David Vital
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199246816
- eISBN:
- 9780191697623
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199246816.003.0420
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Three-fifths of the civilian population of Jews of continental Europe were done to death in the course of World War II by Germany and its allies. It was to be the solution for all time of what was ...
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Three-fifths of the civilian population of Jews of continental Europe were done to death in the course of World War II by Germany and its allies. It was to be the solution for all time of what was conceived in Berlin as the Jewish Problem. Most victims were killed by firing squads or in gas chambers installed in camps dedicated to the purpose. The rest were finished off by massive ill treatment and starvation in the ghettos and concentration camps into which they had been corralled, or by subjection to homicidally intense slave labour and forced marches. The military defeat of Germany occurred before the programme could be completed, but National Socialist hegemony over Europe lasted long enough for the result to fall very little short of the intention – which was to deal the Jewish people, notably in its great east European heartland, a blow from which recovery would be impossible.Less
Three-fifths of the civilian population of Jews of continental Europe were done to death in the course of World War II by Germany and its allies. It was to be the solution for all time of what was conceived in Berlin as the Jewish Problem. Most victims were killed by firing squads or in gas chambers installed in camps dedicated to the purpose. The rest were finished off by massive ill treatment and starvation in the ghettos and concentration camps into which they had been corralled, or by subjection to homicidally intense slave labour and forced marches. The military defeat of Germany occurred before the programme could be completed, but National Socialist hegemony over Europe lasted long enough for the result to fall very little short of the intention – which was to deal the Jewish people, notably in its great east European heartland, a blow from which recovery would be impossible.
Robby Stoks, Frank Johansson, and Marjan De Block
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199230693
- eISBN:
- 9780191710889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230693.003.0004
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Animal Biology
Animals often face time stress because they have to reach a certain stage before a certain time horizon (e.g., the onset of winter or pond drying). Damselflies react to time stress with a shortening ...
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Animals often face time stress because they have to reach a certain stage before a certain time horizon (e.g., the onset of winter or pond drying). Damselflies react to time stress with a shortening of their development time, and often show compensatory growth to avoid a smaller size at metamorphosis. Behaviour (increased foraging) and digestive physiology (increased growth efficiency) underlie this life history plasticity. Both ecological and physiological costs of this accelerated life history have been shown: time-stressed larvae are less responsive to predators and hence suffer higher mortality by predation, and show larger mass loss during starvation and reduced investment in immune function and in energy storage. These costs may explain why time-stressed larvae suffer a reduced lifetime mating success in the adult stage.Less
Animals often face time stress because they have to reach a certain stage before a certain time horizon (e.g., the onset of winter or pond drying). Damselflies react to time stress with a shortening of their development time, and often show compensatory growth to avoid a smaller size at metamorphosis. Behaviour (increased foraging) and digestive physiology (increased growth efficiency) underlie this life history plasticity. Both ecological and physiological costs of this accelerated life history have been shown: time-stressed larvae are less responsive to predators and hence suffer higher mortality by predation, and show larger mass loss during starvation and reduced investment in immune function and in energy storage. These costs may explain why time-stressed larvae suffer a reduced lifetime mating success in the adult stage.
Trenton G. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264980
- eISBN:
- 9780191754135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264980.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
While conventional wisdom holds that excessive body weight is the product of some combination of a high-calorie diet and a sedentary lifestyle, public health measures aimed at these factors have been ...
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While conventional wisdom holds that excessive body weight is the product of some combination of a high-calorie diet and a sedentary lifestyle, public health measures aimed at these factors have been met with only limited success. This chapter considers the possibility that obesity might be better understood in terms of the biologist's notion that humans and other animals evolved the ability to store body fat as an optimal response to the presence of starvation risk. Evidence from a broad array of disciplines is consistent with this view, including the neuroendocrinology of energy homeostasis, parallels between human and animal fattening behaviour, the effect of stress on dietary intake, population-level studies of the impact of economic insecurity on body weight and international variation in obesity rates.Less
While conventional wisdom holds that excessive body weight is the product of some combination of a high-calorie diet and a sedentary lifestyle, public health measures aimed at these factors have been met with only limited success. This chapter considers the possibility that obesity might be better understood in terms of the biologist's notion that humans and other animals evolved the ability to store body fat as an optimal response to the presence of starvation risk. Evidence from a broad array of disciplines is consistent with this view, including the neuroendocrinology of energy homeostasis, parallels between human and animal fattening behaviour, the effect of stress on dietary intake, population-level studies of the impact of economic insecurity on body weight and international variation in obesity rates.
Tom Scott-Smith
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501748653
- eISBN:
- 9781501748677
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501748653.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This book examines the practical techniques humanitarians have used to manage and measure starvation, from Victorian “scientific” soup kitchens to space-age, high-protein foods. Tracing the evolution ...
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This book examines the practical techniques humanitarians have used to manage and measure starvation, from Victorian “scientific” soup kitchens to space-age, high-protein foods. Tracing the evolution of these techniques since the start of the nineteenth century, the book argues that humanitarianism is not a simple story of progress and improvement, but rather is profoundly shaped by sociopolitical conditions. Aid is often presented as an apolitical and technical project, but the way humanitarians conceive and tackle human needs has always been deeply influenced by culture, politics, and society. These influences extend down to the most detailed mechanisms for measuring malnutrition and providing sustenance. As the book shows, over the past century, the humanitarian approach to hunger has redefined food as nutrients and hunger as a medical condition. Aid has become more individualized, medicalized, and rationalized, shaped by modernism in bureaucracy, commerce, and food technology. The book focuses on the gains and losses that result, examining the complex compromises that arise between efficiency of distribution and quality of care. It concludes that humanitarian groups have developed an approach to the empty stomach that is dependent on compact, commercially produced devices and is often paternalistic and culturally insensitive.Less
This book examines the practical techniques humanitarians have used to manage and measure starvation, from Victorian “scientific” soup kitchens to space-age, high-protein foods. Tracing the evolution of these techniques since the start of the nineteenth century, the book argues that humanitarianism is not a simple story of progress and improvement, but rather is profoundly shaped by sociopolitical conditions. Aid is often presented as an apolitical and technical project, but the way humanitarians conceive and tackle human needs has always been deeply influenced by culture, politics, and society. These influences extend down to the most detailed mechanisms for measuring malnutrition and providing sustenance. As the book shows, over the past century, the humanitarian approach to hunger has redefined food as nutrients and hunger as a medical condition. Aid has become more individualized, medicalized, and rationalized, shaped by modernism in bureaucracy, commerce, and food technology. The book focuses on the gains and losses that result, examining the complex compromises that arise between efficiency of distribution and quality of care. It concludes that humanitarian groups have developed an approach to the empty stomach that is dependent on compact, commercially produced devices and is often paternalistic and culturally insensitive.
L. A. Clarkson and E. Margaret Crawford
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198227519
- eISBN:
- 9780191708374
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198227519.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter considers whether Ireland was more vulnerable to famine than its European neighbours because of over-population, climate, peasant attitudes, or government policy. It discusses the ...
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This chapter considers whether Ireland was more vulnerable to famine than its European neighbours because of over-population, climate, peasant attitudes, or government policy. It discusses the distinction between starvation (what happens to individuals) and famine (a community event), and considers whether the structure of the Irish economy and society made the country unusually vulnerable to famines. It also considers the relevance of Sen's entitlements thesis to Ireland. It argues that between 1600 and 1845, food production kept ahead of population growth and that simple Malthusian models do not fit Ireland. Ireland was not more famine-prone than England and Scotland until the early 19th century, but then three million people were dangerously dependent on potatoes as their principal food.Less
This chapter considers whether Ireland was more vulnerable to famine than its European neighbours because of over-population, climate, peasant attitudes, or government policy. It discusses the distinction between starvation (what happens to individuals) and famine (a community event), and considers whether the structure of the Irish economy and society made the country unusually vulnerable to famines. It also considers the relevance of Sen's entitlements thesis to Ireland. It argues that between 1600 and 1845, food production kept ahead of population growth and that simple Malthusian models do not fit Ireland. Ireland was not more famine-prone than England and Scotland until the early 19th century, but then three million people were dangerously dependent on potatoes as their principal food.
L. A. Clarkson and E. Margaret Crawford
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198227519
- eISBN:
- 9780191708374
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198227519.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
Famine brings with it starvation, fevers, dysentery and diarrhoea, the collapse of family and community life, and chronic misery. Commentators from Edward Spenser in the 1590s to William Wilde in ...
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Famine brings with it starvation, fevers, dysentery and diarrhoea, the collapse of family and community life, and chronic misery. Commentators from Edward Spenser in the 1590s to William Wilde in 1851 have provided graphic accounts of famine and starvation over three centuries. This chapter makes use of the lessons learnt from the Dutch famine of 1944–5 and other modern famines to examine the historical evidence of wasting diseases — such as marasmus, kwashiorkor; vitamin-deficiency diseases, including scurvy and xerophthalmia; and fevers and infections such as typhus, relapsing fever, dysentery, and diarrhoea — found during Irish famines. It attempts to measure the mortality of the major killer diseases during the Great Famine. It speculates on the possible long-term effects of the Great Famine on survivors and their progeny.Less
Famine brings with it starvation, fevers, dysentery and diarrhoea, the collapse of family and community life, and chronic misery. Commentators from Edward Spenser in the 1590s to William Wilde in 1851 have provided graphic accounts of famine and starvation over three centuries. This chapter makes use of the lessons learnt from the Dutch famine of 1944–5 and other modern famines to examine the historical evidence of wasting diseases — such as marasmus, kwashiorkor; vitamin-deficiency diseases, including scurvy and xerophthalmia; and fevers and infections such as typhus, relapsing fever, dysentery, and diarrhoea — found during Irish famines. It attempts to measure the mortality of the major killer diseases during the Great Famine. It speculates on the possible long-term effects of the Great Famine on survivors and their progeny.
Susan R. Holman
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195139129
- eISBN:
- 9780199834310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195139127.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter places Basil of Caesarea's fourth‐century famine relief activities within the broader spectrum of the history of famine relief and the physiology of starvation. It summarizes what is ...
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This chapter places Basil of Caesarea's fourth‐century famine relief activities within the broader spectrum of the history of famine relief and the physiology of starvation. It summarizes what is known of his response to the famine of 368–69 ce and compares his sermon “In time of famine and drought” with a sixth‐century famine chronicle by Ps. Joshua the Stylite and Philagathos's eleventh‐century sermon on famine, considering these three texts in light of modern medical and sociological studies on starvation and hunger typology. Basil's texts from the famine crisis show him exercising a priest–bishop's politics of power, by evoking vivid images of the destitute compared with mourning infants, by insisting that the hungry are suffering unjustly, and by demanding grain donations as both a ceremonial gift exchange and an act of redemptive almsgiving.Less
This chapter places Basil of Caesarea's fourth‐century famine relief activities within the broader spectrum of the history of famine relief and the physiology of starvation. It summarizes what is known of his response to the famine of 368–69 ce and compares his sermon “In time of famine and drought” with a sixth‐century famine chronicle by Ps. Joshua the Stylite and Philagathos's eleventh‐century sermon on famine, considering these three texts in light of modern medical and sociological studies on starvation and hunger typology. Basil's texts from the famine crisis show him exercising a priest–bishop's politics of power, by evoking vivid images of the destitute compared with mourning infants, by insisting that the hungry are suffering unjustly, and by demanding grain donations as both a ceremonial gift exchange and an act of redemptive almsgiving.
Amartya Sen
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198284635
- eISBN:
- 9780191596902
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198284632.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The main focus of this book is on the causation of starvation in general and of famines in particular. The traditional analysis of famines concentrates on food supply. This is shown to be ...
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The main focus of this book is on the causation of starvation in general and of famines in particular. The traditional analysis of famines concentrates on food supply. This is shown to be fundamentally defective—it is theoretically unsound, empirically inept, and dangerously misleading for policy. The author develops an alternative method of analysis—the ’entitlement approach’, which concentrates on ownership and exchange. Aside from developing the underlying theory, the approach is used in a number of case studies of recent famines, including the Great Bengal Famine of 1943, the Ethiopian famines of 1973 and 1974, the Bangladesh famine of 1974, and the famines in the countries of the African Sahel in the 1970s. The book also provides a general analysis of the characterization and measurement of poverty. Various approaches used in economics, sociology, and political theory are critically examined. The predominance of distributional issues, including distribution between different occupational groups, links up the problem of conceptualizing poverty with that of analysing starvation. The book contains some technical economic analysis, but the text of the book has been kept as informal as possible, so that the text is accessible to the non‐technical reader, and the main lines of reasoning and their applications to the case studies are easily followed. Technicalities and mathematical reasoning are confined to the four appendices, which (1) present a formal analysis of the notion of exchange entitlement, (2) provide illustrative models of exchange entitlement, (3) examine the problem of poverty measurement, and (4) analyse the pattern of famine mortality based on the Bengal famine of 1943.Less
The main focus of this book is on the causation of starvation in general and of famines in particular. The traditional analysis of famines concentrates on food supply. This is shown to be fundamentally defective—it is theoretically unsound, empirically inept, and dangerously misleading for policy. The author develops an alternative method of analysis—the ’entitlement approach’, which concentrates on ownership and exchange. Aside from developing the underlying theory, the approach is used in a number of case studies of recent famines, including the Great Bengal Famine of 1943, the Ethiopian famines of 1973 and 1974, the Bangladesh famine of 1974, and the famines in the countries of the African Sahel in the 1970s. The book also provides a general analysis of the characterization and measurement of poverty. Various approaches used in economics, sociology, and political theory are critically examined. The predominance of distributional issues, including distribution between different occupational groups, links up the problem of conceptualizing poverty with that of analysing starvation. The book contains some technical economic analysis, but the text of the book has been kept as informal as possible, so that the text is accessible to the non‐technical reader, and the main lines of reasoning and their applications to the case studies are easily followed. Technicalities and mathematical reasoning are confined to the four appendices, which (1) present a formal analysis of the notion of exchange entitlement, (2) provide illustrative models of exchange entitlement, (3) examine the problem of poverty measurement, and (4) analyse the pattern of famine mortality based on the Bengal famine of 1943.
Robert Garland
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161051
- eISBN:
- 9781400850259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161051.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines the reasons for becoming an economic migrant. In the modern world, economic migrants tend to be both entrepreneurial and dynamic, having demonstrated their willingness to take ...
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This chapter examines the reasons for becoming an economic migrant. In the modern world, economic migrants tend to be both entrepreneurial and dynamic, having demonstrated their willingness to take risks and leave their homes in order to create opportunities for themselves and their families. There is every reason to suppose that economic migrants in the ancient world would have been equally entrepreneurial and dynamic. A primary motivation for the movement of people in the modern world is the desire to escape financial destitution and starvation, though distress caused by political upheavals runs a close second. In the ancient world by contrast, where servile labor was readily available, merchants and craftsmen were the ones most likely to better their economic circumstances by migration.Less
This chapter examines the reasons for becoming an economic migrant. In the modern world, economic migrants tend to be both entrepreneurial and dynamic, having demonstrated their willingness to take risks and leave their homes in order to create opportunities for themselves and their families. There is every reason to suppose that economic migrants in the ancient world would have been equally entrepreneurial and dynamic. A primary motivation for the movement of people in the modern world is the desire to escape financial destitution and starvation, though distress caused by political upheavals runs a close second. In the ancient world by contrast, where servile labor was readily available, merchants and craftsmen were the ones most likely to better their economic circumstances by migration.
Christopher Morash
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198182795
- eISBN:
- 9780191673887
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198182795.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
In the late 1840s, more than one million Irish men and women died of starvation and disease, and a further two million emigrated in one of the worst European sustenance crises of modern times. Yet a ...
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In the late 1840s, more than one million Irish men and women died of starvation and disease, and a further two million emigrated in one of the worst European sustenance crises of modern times. Yet a general feeling persists that the Irish Famine eluded satisfactory representation. This book examines literary texts by writers such as William Carleton, Anthony Trollope, James Clarence Mangan, John Mitchel, and Samuel Ferguson, and reveals how they interact with histories, sermons, economic treatises to construct a narrative of the most important and elusive events in Irish history. This book explores the concept of the famine as a moment of absence. It argues that the event constitutes an unspeakable moment in attempts to write the past — a point at which the great Victorian metanarratives of historical change collapse. Aligning itself with new historical literary criticism, the book examines the attempts of a wide range of 19th-century writing to ensure the memorialisation of an event which seems to resist representation.Less
In the late 1840s, more than one million Irish men and women died of starvation and disease, and a further two million emigrated in one of the worst European sustenance crises of modern times. Yet a general feeling persists that the Irish Famine eluded satisfactory representation. This book examines literary texts by writers such as William Carleton, Anthony Trollope, James Clarence Mangan, John Mitchel, and Samuel Ferguson, and reveals how they interact with histories, sermons, economic treatises to construct a narrative of the most important and elusive events in Irish history. This book explores the concept of the famine as a moment of absence. It argues that the event constitutes an unspeakable moment in attempts to write the past — a point at which the great Victorian metanarratives of historical change collapse. Aligning itself with new historical literary criticism, the book examines the attempts of a wide range of 19th-century writing to ensure the memorialisation of an event which seems to resist representation.
Amartya Sen
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198284635
- eISBN:
- 9780191596902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198284632.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Introduces the basic approach used by the author to analyse the causes of starvation in general and famine in particular. The approach involves a study of entitlement systems, based on the author's ...
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Introduces the basic approach used by the author to analyse the causes of starvation in general and famine in particular. The approach involves a study of entitlement systems, based on the author's thesis that starvation statements are about the relationship of persons to the commodity of food, rather than about the food supply per se. Starvation statements translate readily into statements about ownership of food, and ownership relations are one kind of entitlement relations.Less
Introduces the basic approach used by the author to analyse the causes of starvation in general and famine in particular. The approach involves a study of entitlement systems, based on the author's thesis that starvation statements are about the relationship of persons to the commodity of food, rather than about the food supply per se. Starvation statements translate readily into statements about ownership of food, and ownership relations are one kind of entitlement relations.
Amartya Sen
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198284635
- eISBN:
- 9780191596902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198284632.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The specific problem of starvation and famines is analysed in general terms. First, starvation and famine are compared and contrasted, and their relationship to poverty outlined. They are then ...
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The specific problem of starvation and famines is analysed in general terms. First, starvation and famine are compared and contrasted, and their relationship to poverty outlined. They are then analysed in terms of time contrasts (temporal variation) and group contrasts (distributional variation) in food availability and consumption.Less
The specific problem of starvation and famines is analysed in general terms. First, starvation and famine are compared and contrasted, and their relationship to poverty outlined. They are then analysed in terms of time contrasts (temporal variation) and group contrasts (distributional variation) in food availability and consumption.
Amartya Sen
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198284635
- eISBN:
- 9780191596902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198284632.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
An analysis is made of the entitlement approach to starvation and famines. This concentrates on the ability of people to command food through the use of the legal means available in society, ...
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An analysis is made of the entitlement approach to starvation and famines. This concentrates on the ability of people to command food through the use of the legal means available in society, including the use of production possibilities, trade opportunities, entitlements vis à vis the state, and other methods of acquiring food. Aspects discussed are exchange entitlement mapping (or E‐mapping), starvation and entitlement failures, the limitations of the entitlement approach, and direct and trade entitlement failures.Less
An analysis is made of the entitlement approach to starvation and famines. This concentrates on the ability of people to command food through the use of the legal means available in society, including the use of production possibilities, trade opportunities, entitlements vis à vis the state, and other methods of acquiring food. Aspects discussed are exchange entitlement mapping (or E‐mapping), starvation and entitlement failures, the limitations of the entitlement approach, and direct and trade entitlement failures.
Amartya Sen
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198284635
- eISBN:
- 9780191596902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198284632.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
In this final chapter, the entitlement approach advocated by the author to the causation of starvation and famine is further consolidated by taking up general issues of deprivation related to ...
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In this final chapter, the entitlement approach advocated by the author to the causation of starvation and famine is further consolidated by taking up general issues of deprivation related to entitlement systems. Reasons for rejecting the view that famines are caused by food availability decline are summarized.Less
In this final chapter, the entitlement approach advocated by the author to the causation of starvation and famine is further consolidated by taking up general issues of deprivation related to entitlement systems. Reasons for rejecting the view that famines are caused by food availability decline are summarized.
CHRISTOPHER MORASH
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198182795
- eISBN:
- 9780191673887
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198182795.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
How was the Great Irish Famine represented in 19th-century literature? The question is less simple than it might appear, for the more we look for a stable historical reality against which to compare ...
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How was the Great Irish Famine represented in 19th-century literature? The question is less simple than it might appear, for the more we look for a stable historical reality against which to compare a literary representation, the less stable that reality becomes. The starvation, the emigration, and the disease epidemics of the late 1840s have become ‘the Famine’ because it was possible to inscribe those disparate, but interrelated events in a relatively cohesive narrative. To write the Famine is, in the first instance, to write about death on a massive, almost unimaginable scale. Indeed, the Famine's hold on our imaginations remains unaffected by the running debate over the numbers of the dead. We must tread carefully as we enter into the textual world of Famine Ireland. If we are to echo Stephen Greenblatt's ‘desire to speak with the dead’, we must learn to listen for the key words in the 19th-century writing of the Famine; we must attune ourselves to its narrative conventions, and become familiar with its allusive vocabulary.Less
How was the Great Irish Famine represented in 19th-century literature? The question is less simple than it might appear, for the more we look for a stable historical reality against which to compare a literary representation, the less stable that reality becomes. The starvation, the emigration, and the disease epidemics of the late 1840s have become ‘the Famine’ because it was possible to inscribe those disparate, but interrelated events in a relatively cohesive narrative. To write the Famine is, in the first instance, to write about death on a massive, almost unimaginable scale. Indeed, the Famine's hold on our imaginations remains unaffected by the running debate over the numbers of the dead. We must tread carefully as we enter into the textual world of Famine Ireland. If we are to echo Stephen Greenblatt's ‘desire to speak with the dead’, we must learn to listen for the key words in the 19th-century writing of the Famine; we must attune ourselves to its narrative conventions, and become familiar with its allusive vocabulary.
Heather Glen
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199272556
- eISBN:
- 9780191699627
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199272556.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Charlotte Brontë's account of what her first novel was not could serve as a description of her second. Those ‘sudden turns’ denied to William Crimsworth — unearned wealth, a transformative marriage, ...
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Charlotte Brontë's account of what her first novel was not could serve as a description of her second. Those ‘sudden turns’ denied to William Crimsworth — unearned wealth, a transformative marriage, excessive happiness — are central to Jane Eyre's story. This is no chilly narrative of self-help, but a much more compelling tale of the ‘wild wonderful and thrilling’, the ‘strange, startling and harrowing’; of starvation and destitution, and the glamour of aristocratic life. The awkward abrasiveness of The Professor is here replaced by a passionate directness, ‘more imaginative and poetical’. Indeed, Jane Eyre seems hardly to question its narrator's point of view. It appears that in Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë is deliberately choosing to emphasize the dark underside of that gospel of self-sufficiency which Crimsworth sought to celebrate in his tale of successful self-help.Less
Charlotte Brontë's account of what her first novel was not could serve as a description of her second. Those ‘sudden turns’ denied to William Crimsworth — unearned wealth, a transformative marriage, excessive happiness — are central to Jane Eyre's story. This is no chilly narrative of self-help, but a much more compelling tale of the ‘wild wonderful and thrilling’, the ‘strange, startling and harrowing’; of starvation and destitution, and the glamour of aristocratic life. The awkward abrasiveness of The Professor is here replaced by a passionate directness, ‘more imaginative and poetical’. Indeed, Jane Eyre seems hardly to question its narrator's point of view. It appears that in Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë is deliberately choosing to emphasize the dark underside of that gospel of self-sufficiency which Crimsworth sought to celebrate in his tale of successful self-help.
W. D. Edmonds
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198227496
- eISBN:
- 9780191678714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198227496.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The uniqueness of Lyon's revolutionary experience was demonstrated most clearly in the nine-week siege of the summer and autumn of 1793. Several other cities came under attack from the forces of the ...
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The uniqueness of Lyon's revolutionary experience was demonstrated most clearly in the nine-week siege of the summer and autumn of 1793. Several other cities came under attack from the forces of the Convention, but none resisted nearly so hard or so long, except for Toulon, which had the assistance of the British fleet. Clearly, Lyon's resistance was only made possible by the active involvement of large numbers of its citizens. By the end of September, the shortage of food in Lyon was critical. With no outside help materializing, defeat by starvation became the most likely prospect, and calls for surrender began to be heard in the sections. On October 8, they were allowed to meet to discuss the situation. On October 9, Lyon was occupied without further resistance.Less
The uniqueness of Lyon's revolutionary experience was demonstrated most clearly in the nine-week siege of the summer and autumn of 1793. Several other cities came under attack from the forces of the Convention, but none resisted nearly so hard or so long, except for Toulon, which had the assistance of the British fleet. Clearly, Lyon's resistance was only made possible by the active involvement of large numbers of its citizens. By the end of September, the shortage of food in Lyon was critical. With no outside help materializing, defeat by starvation became the most likely prospect, and calls for surrender began to be heard in the sections. On October 8, they were allowed to meet to discuss the situation. On October 9, Lyon was occupied without further resistance.
Simona Giordano
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199269747
- eISBN:
- 9780191603129
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199269742.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter explores the organic basis of eating disorders, and discusses whether eating disorders are a form of addiction. Gene variations seem to be involved in both anorexia and bulimia nervosa. ...
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This chapter explores the organic basis of eating disorders, and discusses whether eating disorders are a form of addiction. Gene variations seem to be involved in both anorexia and bulimia nervosa. However, it is unclear what these variations are and how they may interact with environmental stressors to determine the onset of the disorders. Moreover, though there is clear evidence that physiological abnormalities are linked to eating disorders, variations are generally corrected as abnormal eating patterns are abandoned. The relationship between these abnormalities and the onset of eating disorders is thus unclear. This has important ethical implications: it cannot be claimed that eating disorders are caused by organic causes, or that organic dysfunctions diminish the sufferers’ autonomy.Less
This chapter explores the organic basis of eating disorders, and discusses whether eating disorders are a form of addiction. Gene variations seem to be involved in both anorexia and bulimia nervosa. However, it is unclear what these variations are and how they may interact with environmental stressors to determine the onset of the disorders. Moreover, though there is clear evidence that physiological abnormalities are linked to eating disorders, variations are generally corrected as abnormal eating patterns are abandoned. The relationship between these abnormalities and the onset of eating disorders is thus unclear. This has important ethical implications: it cannot be claimed that eating disorders are caused by organic causes, or that organic dysfunctions diminish the sufferers’ autonomy.
Lois Shepherd
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807832950
- eISBN:
- 9781469605746
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807888643_shepherd
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Every day, thousands of people quietly face decisions as agonizing as those made famous in the Terri Schiavo case. Throughout that controversy, all kinds of people—politicians, religious leaders, ...
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Every day, thousands of people quietly face decisions as agonizing as those made famous in the Terri Schiavo case. Throughout that controversy, all kinds of people—politicians, religious leaders, legal and medical experts—made emphatic statements about the facts and offered even more certain opinions about what should be done. To many, courts were either ordering Terri's death by starvation or vindicating her constitutional rights. Both sides called for simple answers. This book details why these simple answers were not right for Terri Schiavo and why they are not right for end-of-life decisions today. The book looks behind labels like “starvation,” “care,” or “medical treatment” to consider what care and feeding really mean, when feeding tubes might be removed, and why disability groups, the faithful, and even the dying themselves often suggest end-of-life solutions that they might later regret. For example, the book cautions against living wills as a pat answer. The book provides evidence that demanding letter-perfect documents can actually weaken, rather than bolster, patient choice. The actions taken and decisions made during Terri Schiavo's final years will continue to have repercussions for thousands of others—those nearing death, their families, health-care professionals, attorneys, lawmakers, clergy, media, researchers, and ethicists.Less
Every day, thousands of people quietly face decisions as agonizing as those made famous in the Terri Schiavo case. Throughout that controversy, all kinds of people—politicians, religious leaders, legal and medical experts—made emphatic statements about the facts and offered even more certain opinions about what should be done. To many, courts were either ordering Terri's death by starvation or vindicating her constitutional rights. Both sides called for simple answers. This book details why these simple answers were not right for Terri Schiavo and why they are not right for end-of-life decisions today. The book looks behind labels like “starvation,” “care,” or “medical treatment” to consider what care and feeding really mean, when feeding tubes might be removed, and why disability groups, the faithful, and even the dying themselves often suggest end-of-life solutions that they might later regret. For example, the book cautions against living wills as a pat answer. The book provides evidence that demanding letter-perfect documents can actually weaken, rather than bolster, patient choice. The actions taken and decisions made during Terri Schiavo's final years will continue to have repercussions for thousands of others—those nearing death, their families, health-care professionals, attorneys, lawmakers, clergy, media, researchers, and ethicists.
Anna Richards
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199267545
- eISBN:
- 9780191708398
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199267545.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
This study of German fiction by women 1770-1914 adds a new dimension to existing debates on the association of women and illness in literature. Drawing on a number of primary medical sources, it ...
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This study of German fiction by women 1770-1914 adds a new dimension to existing debates on the association of women and illness in literature. Drawing on a number of primary medical sources, it constructs a history of women's self-starvation, eating behaviour, and wasting diseases in particular, and examines the portrayal of the ‘wasting heroine’ in works by female and selected male authors in this context. It becomes clear that though the wasting heroine sometimes reinforces popular notions of female fragility, in certain works the book represents a rejection of a traditionally female role or allows an author to make a socially critical point about women's status in society.Less
This study of German fiction by women 1770-1914 adds a new dimension to existing debates on the association of women and illness in literature. Drawing on a number of primary medical sources, it constructs a history of women's self-starvation, eating behaviour, and wasting diseases in particular, and examines the portrayal of the ‘wasting heroine’ in works by female and selected male authors in this context. It becomes clear that though the wasting heroine sometimes reinforces popular notions of female fragility, in certain works the book represents a rejection of a traditionally female role or allows an author to make a socially critical point about women's status in society.
