Exploring the Cultural History of Continental European Freak Shows and ‘Enfreakment’

This Collection Offers Cultural Historical Analyses Of Enfreakment And Freak Shows, Examining The Social Construction And Spectacular Display Of Wondrous, Monstrous, Or Curious Otherness In The Formerly Relatively Neglected Region Of Continental Europe. Forgotten Stories Are Uncovered About Freak-show Celebrities, Medical Specimen, And Philosophical Fantasies Presenting The Anatomically Unusual In A Wide Range Of Sites, Including Curiosity Cabinets, Anatomical Museums, And Traveling Circus Acts. The Essays Explore The Locally Specific Dimensions Of The Exhibition Of Extraordinary Bodies Within Their Particular Historical, Cultural And Political Context. Thus The Impact Of The Nazi Eugenics Programs, State Socialism, Or The Chernobyl Catastrophe Is Observed Closely And Yet The Transnational Dimensions Of Enfreakment Are Made Obvious Through Topics Ranging From Jesuit Missionaries’ Diabolization Of American Indians, To Translations Of Continental European Teratology In British Medical Journals, And The Hollywood Silver Screen’s Colonization Of European Fantasies About Deformity. Although Continental European Freaks Are Introduced As Products Of Ideologically-infiltrated Representations, They Also Emerge As Embodied Subjects Endowed With Their Own Voice, View, And Subversive Agency. This Collection Offers Cultural Historical Analyses Of Enfreakment And Freak Shows, Examining The Social Construction And Spectacular Display Of Wondrous, Monstrous, Or Curious Otherness In The Formerly Relatively Neglected Region Of Continental Europe. Leprous Bodies And Abject Charity / Kamillea Aghtan -- Missionaries, Monsters, And The Demon Show : Diabolized Representations Of American Indians In The Jesuit Libraries Of Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century Upper Hungary / Ildikó Sz. Kristóf -- Frontier Girl Goes Feral In Eighteenth Century France : The Curious Case Of Marie-angélique Memmie Le Blanc, The Wild Girl Of Champagne / Susan Small -- The Diderot Freak Show : The Monster Laboratory In D'alembert's Dream / Dóra Székesi -- Spectacular Medical Freakery : British Translations Of Nineteenth Century European Teratology / Ally Crockford -- Monstrous Bodies In Rudolf Virchow's Medical Collection In Nineteenth-century Germany / Birgit Stammberger -- Enfreakment And German Medical Collections / Andrea Zittlau -- Normalizing Bodily Difference In Autobiographical Narratives Of The Central European Armless Wonders Carl Hermann Unthan And František Filip / Lucie Storchová -- Tiny Artists From The Big World : The Rhetoric Of Representing Extraordinary Bodies During The Singer Midgets' 1928 Tour In Prague / Filip Herza -- From The Showbiz To The Concentration Camp : The Fabulous, Freakish Life Of Hungarian Jewish Dwarf Performers Zoli Hirsch And The Ovitz Family / Anna Kérchy -- The Freaks Of Chernobyl : Fantasies Of Nuclear Mutants In (post)soviet Society / Eugenia Kuznetsova -- On Grace And Disability : Personal And Philosophical Reflections On A Marionette Theatre Project By Disabled Youth In Post-soviet Russia /krisztián Benkő -- Longing For Endor : Little People And The Ideological Colonization Of The European Fantasy Genre / Catriona Mcara. Edited By Anna Kérchy And Andrea Zittlau. Includes Bibliographical References. TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 INTRODUCTION 7 LEPROUS BODIES AND ABJECT CHARITY 26 MISSIONARIES, MONSTERS, AND THE DEMON SHOW 44 FRONTIER GIRL GOES FERAL IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FRANCE 80 THE DIDEROT FREAK SHOW 96 SPECTACULAR MEDICAL FREAKERY 118 MONSTROUS BODIES IN RUDOLF VIRCHOW’S MEDICAL COLLECTION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY GERMANY 135 ENFREAKMENT AND GERMAN MEDICAL COLLECTIONS 156 NORMALIZING BODILY DIFFERENCE IN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES OF THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN ARMLESS WONDERS CARL HERMANN UNTHAN AND FRANTIŠEK FILIP 175 “TINY ARTISTS FROM THE BIG WORLD” 199 FROM SHOWBIZ TO THE CONCENTRATION CAMP 217 THE FREAKS OF CHERNOBYL 239 ON GRACE AND DISABILITY 257 LONGING FOR ENDOR 272 CONTRIBUTORS 290 INDEX 294 Content: Table of contents introduction leprous bodies and abject charity missionaries, monsters, and the demon show frontier girl goes feral in eighteenth century france the diderot freak show spectacular medical freakery monstrous bodies in rudolf virchow's medical collection in nineteenth century germany enfreakment and german medical collections normalizing bodily difference in autobiographical narratives of the central european armless wonders carl hermann unthan and františek filip "tiny artists from the big world" from showbiz to the concentration camp the freaks of chernobyl. On grace and disabilitylonging for endor contributors index.