High Anxieties: Cultural Studies in Addiction

by Janet Farrell Brodie (Editor), Marc Redfield (Editor)

High Anxieties explores the history and ideological ramifications of the modern concept of addiction. Little more than a century old, the notions of "addict" as an identity and "addiction" as a disease of the will form part of the story of modernity. What is addiction? This collection of essays illuminates and refashions the term, delivering a complex and mature understanding of addiction.

Brodie and Redfield's introduction provides a roadmap for readers and situates the fascinating essays within a larger, interdisciplinary framework. Stacey Margolis and Timothy Melley's pieces grapple with the psychology of addiction. Cannon Schmitt and Marty Roth delve into the relationship between opium and the British Empire's campaign to control and stigmatize China. Robyn R. Warhol and Nicholas O. Warner examine accounts of alcohol abuse in texts as disparate as Victorian novels, Alcoholics Anonymous literature, and James Fenimore Cooper's fiction. Helen Keane scrutinizes smoking, and Maurizio Viano turns to the silver screen to trace how the representation of drugs in films has changed over time. Ann Weinstone and Marguerite Waller's essays on addiction and cyberspace cap this impressive anthology.

Genres: Addiction, Sociology

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Caitlin Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating exploration of addiction in literature from the Romantic era to the creation of Virtual Reality. Although the discussion of how addiction plays into the idea of "self" was not my favorite, the more historical chapters concerning opium in China, India and England and the relationship between alcohol and Native Americans were fascinating. We tend to overlook the role that addiction played in many of the world's greatest battles. The chapter on the role of addiction in film was also quite interesting, in that it posits that there are practically no films that depict drug use accurately...for a period of time showing drug use as fun/enlightening was literally against the law. Cinema played a large role in our negative views of drug use which goes back as early as the mid 1800s. Very interesting.