In nineteenth-century medicine, it was generally agreed that “true hermaphroditism,” or the equal combination of male and female sexual characteristics in one body, was impossible in humans. Yet true hermaphroditism remained a significant presence in both fictional and non-fictional texts. Much of the scholarly literature is on the history of hermaphroditism as a history of intersexuality. Fantasizing Hermaphroditism: Two-Sexed Metaphors in Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture is a study of both hermaphroditism and the hermaphrodite as a fantasy. My approach is a combination of historicization and close reading. The chapters are in chronological order, and each chapter is centered on a single text. Chapter 1 addresses Julia Ward Howe’s fictional manuscript, The Hermaphrodite; Chapter 2, S.H. Harris’ case narrative on “A Case of Doubtful Sex”; Chapter 3, James Kiernan’s theoretical treatise on “Responsibility in Sexual Perversion”; and Chapter 4, a memoir by an author who went by the names Ralph Werther and Earl Lind, titled Autobiography of an Androgyne. I begin with the broader cultural moment of the text’s writing, and then explore the text’s language and structure in greater depth. This range of texts demonstrates that the hermaphrodite was a fantasy for nineteenth century authors, described as an impossibility but inspiring very real fear and pleasure. The language that they—and we—use in fantasies about the unreal hermaphrodite can help us to unpack these anxieties and desires around marriage, the body, race, and the definition of the individual. / English
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/1730 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Lewis-Turner, Jessica Lindsay |
| Contributors | Salazar, James B., Wells, Susan, 1947-, Gauch, Suzanne, 1965-, Levitt, Laura, 1960- |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 192 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/1712, Theses and Dissertations |
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