The Science of Starving in Victorian Literature, Medicine, and Political Economy

Oxford University Press Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP New Book Announcement Date 15/10/2019 Serial no. Title The Science of Starving Edition New product Subtitle Medicine, Political Economy, and the Victorian Novel Status Draft Technical Main edition ISBN 0198850034 ISBN 9780198850038 Pub. date 16/04/2020 Binding Hardback No.of vols/vol no. Price �50.00 Imprint OUP Terms AJ Bibliography No Royalty Yes Format 234x153 mm Joint IP Extent 224 pp Text colours 1 Illustrations Series/no. () Digital Formats Also available as an ebook for Retail & Institutions (Single User access) Also available online for Institutions only as part of Oxford Scholarship Online Author(s)/editor(s) Title Forename Surname Role Nationality Prof Andrew Mangham Author Affiliation Professor of Victorian Literature and Medical Humanities, University of Reading Responsible editor Jacqueline Norton Publishing History Assistant Commissioning editor Aimee Wright Agent Production editor Alannah Santra Rights Co-publisher Territorial World Original publisher Translation Available Date orig.edn pub/op Book club Available Translation? No Other sub.rights Available Orig.lang & title Classifications Main Literature Secondary Victorian literature and science Catalogue Section QB Other The Science of Starving in Victorian Literature, Medicine, and Political Economy is a reassessment of the languages and methodologies used, throughout the nineteenth century, for discussing extreme hunger in Britain. Set against the providentialism of conservative political economy, this study uncovers an emerging, dynamic way of describing literal starvation in medicine and physiology. No longer seen as a divine punishment for individual failings, starvation became, in the human sciences, a pathology whose horrific symptoms registered failings of state and statute. Providing new and historically-rich readings of the works of Charles Kingsley, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Charles Dickens, this book suggests that the realism we have come to associate with Victorian social problem fiction learned a vast amount from the empirical, materialist objectives of the medical sciences and that, within the mechanics of these intersections, we find important re-examinations of how we might think about this ongoing humanitarian issue.