Generating Bodies and Gendered Selves: The Rhetoric of Reproduction in Early Modern England

261 Pages·2007·1.287 MB·English

by  Eve Keller

IN VIVO
THE CULTURAL MEDIATIONS OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE
Phillip Thurtle and Robert Mitchell, Series Editors
IN VIVO
THE CULTURAL MEDIATIONS OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE
is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the medical and life sciences,
with a focus on the scientific and cultural practices used to process data,
model knowledge, and communicate about biomedical science. Through
historical, artistic, media, social, and literary analysis, books in the series
seek to understand and explain the key conceptual issues that animate
and inform biomedical developments.
THE TRANSPARENT BODY
A Cultural Analysis of Medical Imaging
BY JOSÉ VAN DIJCK
GENERATING BODIES AND GENDERED SELVES
The Rhetoric of Reproduction in Early Modern England
BY EVE KELLER
GENERATING BODIES AND GENDERED SELVES
The Rhetoric of Reproduction in Early Modern England
EVE KELLER
A SAMUEL AND ALTHEA STROUM BOOK
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS SEATTLE / LONDON
This book is published with the assistance Library of Congress
of a grant from the Stroum Book Fund, Cataloging-in-Publication Data
established through the generosity of
Samuel and Althea Stroum. Keller, Eve, 1960–
Generating bodies and gendered selves :
© 2007 by the University of Washington Press the rhetoric of reproduction in early
Printed in the United States of America modern England / Eve Keller.
Design by Audrey Seretha Meyer p. ; cm. — (In vivo)
12 11 10 09 08 07 5 4 3 2 1 “A Samuel and Althea Stroum Book.”
Includes bibliographical references and
All rights reserved. No part of this publi- index.
cation may be reproduced or transmitted ISBN 0-295-98641-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
in any form or by any means, electronic 1. Gynecology—England—History.
or mechanical, including photocopy, 2. Human reproduction—England—
recording, or any information storage History. 3. Obstetrics—England—History
or retrieval system, without permission 4. Gynecology—Philosophy. I. Title.
in writing from the publisher. II. Series: In vivo (Seattle, Wash.)
[DNLM: 1. Gynecology—history—
University of Washington Press England. 2. Reproduction—England.
P.O. Box 50096, Seattle, WA 98145 U.S.A 3. Women’s Health—history—England.
www.washington.edu/uwpress WP 11 FE5 K29g 2006]
RG518.G7K45 2006
The paper used in this publication is 618.1’00942—dc22 2006016948
acid-free and 90percent recycled from
at least 50percent post-consumer waste.
It meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information
Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
To David, Jessye, and Avir,
whom I adore
CONTENTS
acknowledgments ix
list of abbreviations xi
introduction 3
1 / On Either Side of the Early Modern
Posthuman and Premodern Bodies and Selves 19
ANCIENT REVISIONS
2 / Subjectified Parts and Supervenient Selves
Rewriting Galenism in Crooke’s Microcosmographia 47
3 / Fixing the Female
Books of Practical Physic for Women 71
MODERN MODULATIONS
4 / Making Up for Losses
The Workings of Gender in Harvey’s De generatione animalium 101
5 / Embryonic Individuals
Mechanism, Embryology, and Modern Man 125
6 / The Masculine Subject of Touch
Case Histories from the Birthing Room 156
epilogue 187
notes 191
bibliography 225
index 239

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I
HAVE LIVED WITH THIS PROJECT FOR A LONG TIME;
now that it nears completion, I am happy to acknowledge some of the debts,
both personal and professional, that I have accrued along the way. Susan
Greenfield has read much of the manuscript, offering insight and encour-
agement in equal measure; others, including Michael McVaugh, Elizabeth Har-
vey, Stuart Sherman, Jeffrey Masten, Catherine Weiss, and the two anonymous
readers from the Press, pushed me to be both more coherent and more com-
plete. Much of this material I have presented at various conferences of the Soci-
ety for Literature, Science, and the Arts, an organization that embodies what I
value most in academia: intellectual generosity, adventurous curiosity, and an
abiding joy in conversation. I am grateful to all in SLSA who have helped me,
especially Susan Squier and Richard Nash. SLSA also brought me to Phillip Thur-
tle and Robert Mitchell, editors of In Vivo, and to Jacqueline Ettinger and Dipika
Nath of the University of Washington Press, all of whom warmly welcomed both
me and the early modern into their vision of the series.
Three chapters in Generating Bodies and Gendered Selvesare expanded versions
of previously published essays. Chapter 4 is adapted from an essay in Women’s
Studies,pp. 131–62; © 1998, reproduced with permission of Taylor & Francis, Inc.
(http://www.taylorandfrancis.com). Chapter 5 is adapted from “Embryonic Indi-
viduals: The Rhetoric of Seventeenth-Century Embryology and the Construc-
tion of Early-Modern Identity,” in Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 33, no. 3, pp.
321–48; © 2000 American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies; reprinted with
permission of The Johns Hopkins University Press. Chapter 6 is adapted from
“The Subject of Touch: Medical Authority in Early Modern Midwifery,” origi-
ix