Barnaby Ridge, 'idiocy' and paternalism : assisting the 'poor idiot'
By: McDonagh, Patrick.
Series: Disability & Society 21 (5) 2006: 411-423.Publisher: 2006Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volume Subject(s): FICTION | HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES | HISTORY | INSTITUTIONALISATION | LANGUAGE OF DISABILITYSummary: Notes that histories of the idea of 'intellectual disability' and its genealogically related concepts such as 'idiocy' rarely consider cultural representations as historical evidence. Argues that Charles Dickens' novel Barnaby Rudge, with its 'idiot' protagonist, uses the image to engage with Chartism and debates over paternalism in the early Victorian period; there is a clear connection between the association of Barnaby with the mob, debates in the 1830s and 1840s over state participation in traditional paternalist structures and the development of 'idiot' asylums in the late 1840s and 1850s.Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
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Article Research | IHC Library | Article (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available (Article available on request) | 21461 |
Notes that histories of the idea of 'intellectual disability' and its genealogically related concepts such as 'idiocy' rarely consider cultural representations as historical evidence. Argues that Charles Dickens' novel Barnaby Rudge, with its 'idiot' protagonist, uses the image to engage with Chartism and debates over paternalism in the early Victorian period; there is a clear connection between the association of Barnaby with the mob, debates in the 1830s and 1840s over state participation in traditional paternalist structures and the development of 'idiot' asylums in the late 1840s and 1850s.
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