Book ID: CBB410995285

Difference and Disability in the Medieval Islamic World: Blighted Bodies (2012)

unapi

Outlines the complex significance of bodies in the late Medieval central Arab Islamic lands. Did you know that blue eyes, baldness, bad breath and boils were all considered bodily 'blights' by Medieval Arabs, as were cross eyes, lameness and deafness? What assumptions about bodies influenced this particular vision of physical difference? How did blighted people view their own bodies? Through close analyses of anecdotes, personal letters, biographies and autobiographies, erotic poetry, non-binding legal opinions, diaristic chronicles and theological tracts, Kristina Richardson brings the cultural views and experiences of disability and difference in the medieval Islamic world to life. This title investigates the place of physically different, disabled and ill individuals in medieval Islam. It is organised around the lives and works of 6 Muslim men, each highlighting a different aspect of bodily difference. It addresses broad cultural questions relating to social class, religious orthodoxy, moral reputation, drug use, male homoeroticism and self-representation in the public sphere. It moves towards a coherent theory of medieval disability and bodily aesthetics in Islamic cultural traditions.

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Reviewed By

Review Emilie Savage-Smith (2016) Review of "Difference and Disability in the Medieval Islamic World: Blighted Bodies". Early Science and Medicine: A Journal for the Study of Science, Technology and Medicine in the Pre-modern Period (pp. 81-83). unapi

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Authors & Contributors
Kuuliala, Jenni
Craton, Lillian
Dasen, Véronique
Ess, Josef van
Ferriello, Giuseppina
Gladfelder, Hal
Journals
19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century
Eighteenth-Century Studies
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
Medicina nei Secoli - Arte e Scienza
Publishers
Palgrave Macmillan
Cambridge University Press
Amsterdam University Press
Brepols
C. Winter
Cambria Press
Concepts
Human body
Disabilities; disability; accessibility
Islam
Medicine
Medicine and literature
Science and literature
People
Dickens, Charles
Time Periods
Medieval
18th century
19th century
20th century
21st century
Ancient
Places
Middle and Near East
Great Britain
Europe
Ireland
Korea
Persia (Iran)
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