false 2361829 1 <div>While “freaks” have captivated our imagination since well before the nineteenth century, the Victorians flocked to shows featuring dancing dwarves, bearded ladies, “missing links,” and six-legged sheep. Indeed, this period has been described by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson as the epoch of “consolidation” for freakery: an era of social change, enormously popular freak shows, and taxonomic frenzy. Victorian Freaks: The Social Context of Freakery in Britain</i>, edited by Marlene Tromp, turns to that rich nexus, examining the struggle over definitions of “freakery” and the unstable and sometimes conflicting ways in which freakery was understood and deployed. As the first study centralizing British culture, this collection discusses figures as varied as Joseph Merrick, “The Elephant Man”; Daniel Lambert, “King of the Fat Men”; Julia Pastrana, “The Bear Woman”; and Laloo “The Marvellous Indian Boy” and his embedded, parasitic twin. The Victorian Freaks</i> contributors examine Victorian culture through the lens of freakery, reading the production of the freak against the landscape of capitalist consumption, the medical community, and the politics of empire, sexuality, and art. Collectively, these essays ask how freakery engaged with notions of normalcy and with its Victorian cultural context. <br> <br> <br></div> 2368596 8 4 2008 Victorian Freaks: The Social Context of Freakery in Britain total:1|4:1| 1 4 10 0 0 0 false false Fri Sep 11 13:30:39 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 13:30:39 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 02 21:06:29 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 21:07:05 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jun 27 09:49:57 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 09:49:57 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jun 22 17:32:24 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 07:24:22 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 17:32:24 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Apr 16 11:34:42 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 11:34:42 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Feb 02 15:18:59 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 15:19:35 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Nov 29 11:58:43 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 11:58:46 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Fri Jul 11 01:22:01 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 01:22:01 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Mar 07 07:42:22 -0800 2008 Fri Mar 07 07:42:29 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Wed Mar 05 07:04:56 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 07:05:06 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2361829