Wundermädchen, Hungerkünstler, Magersucht : eine Kulturgeschichte der Ess-Störungen

by Walter Vandereycken, Rolf Meermann, Ron Van Deth

Down the centuries, self-starvation has taken many morbid guises - in the extremes of religious fasting and the abstinence of saints, in hunger strikes, in the exhibition of living skeletons and hunger artists, and in the fate of melancholics, hysterics, the possessed and bewitched. This history culminates in the 19th century with the labelling of anorexia nervosa, a condition which attracts many theories and explanations and vast literature, in the course of which a medical curiosity has been transformed into a fashionable disease. This account is of both clinical and historical importance and should interest anyone concerned with the interactions of culture and the individual.

Genres: History, Psychology, Nonfiction, Food, Religion, Cultural

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched book about the history of fasting and self-starvation which luckily doesn't fall into diagnosing the people from the past.

[Niamh Colbrook · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative and largely well-written book (aside from an extremely tangential section in the final chapter), with a lot of well-researched content. However, it lacks argumentative momentum throughout. This is made more frustrating by highly promising, but underdeveloped, suggestions, such as the importance of attending to contemporary practices of self-starvation amidst abundance, a peculiar setting reflecting the significance of political and economic questions in the theorisation of anorexia. Further development of this idea would have added a refreshing perspective on hackneyed argument concerning the damaging thin ideal and diet industry. Particularly intriguing was the question with which the book ended: to what extent are present-day psychologists and psychiatrists contributing to the problem through their theorisations? Since two highly qualified psychologists have authored this book, I would have hoped for at least a gesture towards an answer. Nevertheless, the very posing of the question rests on a pleasing degree of self-awareness on the part of the authors that the narratives of their field may, in fact, be as limiting as the stigma and ignorance they are trying to combat.

[charlie gray · Rating 1 out of 5]

thought it may be interesting or that there’s some sort of education but this book was awful. the idea of it is good but it’s so bad written and there’s too much historical information that wasn’t even true. the main aspects of the topic are not in the book and the authors just copy pasted the opinions of past people

[Jodie Gale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rich history of disordered eating and spirituality

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

sehr interessant nicht nur über einzelschicksale zu lesen, sondern sich der historischen entwicklung von esstörungen anzuschauen. angenehmer schreibstil und trotzdem fachlich kompetent.

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am currently rereading this book but I really think I read this back in grad school bc it seems very familiar...