This course surveys the history of madness from the Ancient times to the present, with great emphasis laid on the emergence of modern psychiatry and modern notions of pathology, deviance and normalcy. The course studies shifting theories of madness, changing social attitudes to mental derangement, and various types of practices and institutions built in order to heal it or hide it. It also focuses on the everyday practices in different institutions, the doctor – patient relationship, and through specific historical documents, will try to reconstruct how madness could be experienced in certain times and spaces. Special attention is paid to (assumed) gender- and class-specific aspects of madness and its changing interpretations. The course relies on the analysis of relevant films and numerous historical images on the topic.
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