Hystories: Psychology, culture and 'hysteria' from the 18th century to the present.

5 weekly sessions, on Thursdays at 11am - 1pm, starting from Thursday 22 January.

Overview

The history of ‘hysteria’ is simultaneously a medical narrative and a cultural one, being as much a kind of communication as a psychological ‘disorder’, expressing symptoms that strive to tell stories the conscious mind is unable to articulate. 

On this course we shall pick our way through the labyrinth of hysteria, from the 18th century culture of ‘Sensibility’ to the present, visiting en route Romanticism and Gothic, psychiatry and clinical psychology, Symbolism, Decadence and Surrealism.

Although hysteria is not confined to any one sex, its story is inextricably entwined with gender politics, and we shall consider how far ‘hysteria’ provided a weapon for controlling women, and how far it provided a channel for women to make protest and express themselves and their desires.

We shall conclude with an evaluation of Elaine Showalter’s account of our strange times, where hysteria is rampant just as the word is dismissed as outmoded.  

The course is designed first and foremost as an exploration of a fascinating and much misunderstood area of recent culture with a view to enabling a fuller comprehension of what makes us and our world tick. As such it will be of interest to anyone with an active curiosity, a broad mind and a taste for a challenge. No prior knowledge or experience is required, but those with some engagement with mental health practice may well find the course of particular interest.

Syllabus

1. Introduction to ‘hysteria’, uses and misuses of the word, conceptualisations of the idea, and the work of the ‘new hysterians’. 
2. Mainstream discourses of hysteria - ‘Sensibility’, constructions of gender, evolution, medicine, and ‘psychiatry’ – hysteria as malingering, over-stimulation or repression?
3. Alternative discourses – women’s literature, Female Gothic, Spiritualism, Symbolism and Decadence.
4. Psychoanalysis, Surrealism, 20th century feminism
5. The politics of hysteria; how far does it provide us with an explanatory key to our current cultural world?

Course lecturer

David Rice has a BA (Hons) in Psychology, and an MA in Cultural Studies, and has taught psychology at further and higher education levels for forty years. Retired from full time education, he has been teaching part-time at Continuing Education, University of Liverpool for nearly 10 years.   

Course fee

• Standard fee: £80
• Concession fee: £40