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Civilized into sleeplessness: a transatlantic study of insomnia at the fin de siècle

Civilized into sleeplessness: a transatlantic study of insomnia at the fin de siècle Determining who was an insomniac at the fin de siècle was more complex than detailing how many hours of sleep were lost. The label was a conduit through which gender, racial, and class-based biases were ratified and produced. This article proposes there are three primary discursive elements to insomnia: the medical, the mass-cultural, and the emblematic. The first two worked together to define the label of “insomniac,” an archetype informed by and reinforcing socio-cultural biases and anxieties. The final discourse functioned as an allegorical index of civilization, contributing to the construction of a popular and “exceptionalist” American national identity. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Nineteenth Century History Taylor & Francis

Civilized into sleeplessness: a transatlantic study of insomnia at the fin de siècle

American Nineteenth Century History , Volume 24 (1): 19 – Jan 2, 2023
19 pages

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References (113)

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
ISSN
1743-7903
eISSN
1466-4658
DOI
10.1080/14664658.2023.2205693
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Determining who was an insomniac at the fin de siècle was more complex than detailing how many hours of sleep were lost. The label was a conduit through which gender, racial, and class-based biases were ratified and produced. This article proposes there are three primary discursive elements to insomnia: the medical, the mass-cultural, and the emblematic. The first two worked together to define the label of “insomniac,” an archetype informed by and reinforcing socio-cultural biases and anxieties. The final discourse functioned as an allegorical index of civilization, contributing to the construction of a popular and “exceptionalist” American national identity.

Journal

American Nineteenth Century HistoryTaylor & Francis

Published: Jan 2, 2023

Keywords: Insomnia; fin de siècle exceptionalism; medicine

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