Tuberculosis was at the start of the 20th century one of the greatest diseases that afflicted the population in Sweden, as well as the rest of Europe. The industrial revolution had created a ripe breeding ground for the disease to spread as people moved from the countryside to the city. Most ended up living in poor, cramped, and unsanitary conditions. At the same time, Sweden was entering an era of social reform under a socialist government. The old and dirty was to be replaced with a new and clean modern society – a “people’s home” for every citizen. This essay explores how this new mentality, that highly valued cleanliness and health of both mind and body, affected those that were ill with tuberculosis and living at a sanatorium in southern Sweden. The source material used is a patients’ magazine from Fur sanatorium, that was published between 1932 and 1944. After selecting articles and poems published by patients and doctors in these magazines, a close reading allowed conclusions to be drawn regarding what the patients thought and felt about the ongoing social changes. Based on these results, it is apparent that the new, hyper-hygienic social norms put further pressure on the patients to conform in any way they could. They did not have a healthy body, so it was important that they had a heathy mind instead.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-411707 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Larsson, Louise |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för idé- och lärdomshistoria |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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