The Invention of Madness: State, Society, and the Insane in Modern China by Emil

Description: The Invention of Madness by Emily Baum Throughout most of history, in China the insane were kept within the home and treated by healers who claimed no specialized knowledge of their condition. In the first decade of the twentieth century, however, psychiatric ideas and institutions began to influence longstanding beliefs about the proper treatment for the mentally ill. In The Invention of Madness, Emily Baum traces a genealogy of insanity from the turn of the century to the onset of war with Japan in 1937, revealing the complex and convoluted ways in which "madness" was transformed in the Chinese imagination into "mental illness." Focusing on typically marginalized historical actors, including municipal functionaries and the urban poor, The Invention of Madness shifts our attention from the elite desire for modern medical care to the ways in which psychiatric discourses were implemented and redeployed in the midst of everyday life. New meanings and practices of madness, Baum argues, were not just imposed on the Beijing public but continuously invented by a range of people in ways that reflected their own needs and interests. Exhaustively researched and theoretically informed, The Invention of Madness is an innovative contribution to medical history, urban studies, and the social history of twentieth-century China. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Author Biography Emily Baum is associate professor of modern Chinese history at the University of California, Irvine. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Contracting the "Mad Illness" 2 The Birth of the Chinese Asylum, 1901-1918 3 The Institutionalization of Madness, 1910s-1920s 4 The Psychiatric Entrepreneur, 1920s-1930s 5 From Madness to Mental Illness, 1928-1935 6 Mental Hygiene and Political Control, 1928-1937 7 Between the Mad and the Mentally Ill Conclusion Glossary of Chinese Terms Notes Bibliography Index Review "The Invention of Madness offers refreshing new perspectives on a topic that has been surprisingly understudied--the diverging ways in which mental illness was understood, managed, and experienced in China in the first half of the twentieth century. With well-crafted arguments that are vigorously supported by a wide array of archival sources, this excellent book is anchored by a deep and comprehensive bibliography of scholarship on modern Chinese history, the history of Chinese medicine, and the comparative history of psychology and psychiatry, and should find an audience among historians of medicine, psychology, and psychiatry as well as experts in the history of modern China."--Carol A. Benedict, Georgetown University"[A] smart, brisk book...The Invention of Madness deserves a wide readership."-- "Social History of Medicine""In this breath-taking book, Emily Baum tells the story of how Chinese urbanites came to embrace Western psychiatric practice and biomedical conceptions of mental health. . . . Filled with fascinating insights concerning the co-evolution of society and the state, The Invention of Madness is a tour-de-force history of the ways in which madness was constantly created and reinvented by ordinary people on their own terms, medical pluralism both grounded and resulted from the transcultural negotiation of competing worldviews, and insanity served as the mirror reflection of those who sought a rational existence in the social and political turmoil of Republican China."-- "Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences""The first English-language monograph on the history of madness in modern China, this book offers far more than a compelling story with new information. With clear writing and persuasive argumentation, Emily Baum argues that the treatment of mad people and evolving understandings of madness reflect Chinas engagement with Western medicine and science, as well as with modernity itself...Well written and deeply engaging, TheInventionofMadness will find a ready audience among specialists in Chinese history and the history of medicine. It is well suited for classroom adoption in either of these fields, at undergraduate and graduate levels. I have already included it on the syllabus for my history of Chinese medicine course."--Nicole Elizabeth Barnes "Twentieth-Century China""A historical narrative that is dynamic and remarkably kaleidoscopic. . . . The Invention of Madness is a pathbreaking work. As the first historical monograph on madness and psychiatry in modern China, it fills many long-extant knowledge gaps in an area that has thus far remained relatively unexplored. . . . With its rich findings and innovative framework, [it] will shed light on future research on mental illness and psychiatry in other major Republican cities as well as in other historical periods in modern and contemporary China. While the subject of the book may seem narrow and esoteric at first sight, it touches upon a wide range of issues and will interest scholars in fields as diverse as medical history, medical anthropology, urban history, and the study of everyday life. Mental health professionals can also learn about their disciplines past from this beautifully written and accessible text. . . . It will be worthwhile to follow Baums lead and take a view that is at once close-up and panoramic to grasp the complexities of this new, evolving landscape."-- "China Review International" Review Quote "This book makes significant headway toward illuminating our understanding of mental illness and healing in a period that was central to the emergence of the modern Chinese state. Emily Baum has identified important sources and developed a fascinating narrative that presents the formation of a recognizably modern psychiatry in China. She ably guides the reader through a complex history wrought by overwhelming transformations felt at elite and popular levels alike." Details ISBN022658061X Author Emily Baum Pages 304 Language English Year 2018 ISBN-10 022658061X ISBN-13 9780226580616 Format Hardcover Publisher The University of Chicago Press Imprint University of Chicago Press Subtitle State, Society, and the Insane in Modern China Place of Publication Chicago, IL Country of Publication United States DEWEY 362.20951 Illustrations Illustrations, unspecified Short Title The Invention of Madness Publication Date 2018-11-05 UK Release Date 2018-11-05 Series Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University AU Release Date 2018-11-05 NZ Release Date 2018-11-05 US Release Date 2018-11-05 Audience Professional & Vocational We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:161781629;

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