Articulating Life's Memory: U.S. Medical Rhetoric about Abortion in the Nineteenth Century

(Paperback)

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"Articulating Life's Memory" offers a unique view of the history, and the language, of abortion in early America. Nathan Stormer's interdisciplinary work moves beyond special histories of 19th century rhetoric about abortion, and general histories of medicine, science and women, to analyze how the articulation of cultural memory through reproductive control in early antiabortion rhetoric presented abortion as nationally and racially threatening to good cultural order. Part 1 provides a layered context for understanding medical practices within the rhetoric of memory formation and sets early antiabortion efforts within the wider framework of 19th-century biopolitics and racism. Part 2 examines the substance of the memory constituted by these early medical practices. This book should be useful reading for scholars researching reproductive rights, rhetoric, and feminist and cultural histories of medicine.

Reviews

Articulating Life's Memory is a timely and provocative book that restores a now-forgotten history to contemporary rhetoric and debates about abortion. Not only does this book give us new insight into the historical development of antiabortion rhetoric, it also illustrates how physicians and medical practices contributed to an understanding of abortion as a central threat to the national, racial, and sexual 'integrity' of the United States. -- Carol Stabile, University of Pittsburgh
This book contains a number of fascinating themes, particularly with respect to the evolving relationship of male physicians to their female patients, as they read the body using new instruments and techniques. * Journal of American History *
This book is a fascinating read and makes a major contribution to the history of the abortion debate and to application of rhetorical theory. * Rhetoric & Public Affairs *
This book does an admirable job of synthesizing significant works written on the wider topics of gender, women's bodies, and women's health. -- Deborah Kuhn McGregor, University of Illinois, Springfield
The book is rich with historical evidence, complex arguments, and critical insights. * Women & Language *
This book is a very important contribution to the ongoing work in the cultural dynamics performed by biomedical discourses of the nineteenth century. It is also an important case study into the value of post-humanist rhetorical methodologies for generating new knowledges about the constraints placed on traditional forms of public argumentation. -- Ron Greene, University of Minnesota

Author Bio

Nathan Stormer is Associate Professor of Communication & Journalism at the University of Maine.