ABSTRACT

This article explores the usefulness of historian Barbara Duden’s ‘somatic epochs’ for re-examining nineteenth century cases of infanticide, neonaticide and concealment of birth. By re-reading legal documentation in light of Duden’s contention that embodied experience is not fixed through time but figured according to the gendered, social and synesthetic contexts of different epochs, I seek to add complexity to legal and medical discussions of infanticide in this era by exploring the felt bodies of both the women accused of these practices and their communities. Taking three child murder investigations conducted in Western Australia, I use rare reports of mother’s felt bodily experiences around concealed pregnancy to argue that a mind/body dichotomy was not yet in evidence. Instead, there are indications that these women and their communities still thought of bodies as a system of Galenic humoral temperaments, and this has implications for the denial behaviours that manifested around infanticide practices. Claims by women that they were not pregnant but rather had other medical complaints and the hesitation of community members to accuse mothers despite a suspected pregnancy are bathed in fresh light. These nuanced additions to understanding the felt body have useful implications for other corporeal explorations of the past.

摘要

本文探讨了历史学家芭芭拉·杜登 (Barbara Duden) 的“躯体时代”对重新审视 19 世纪杀婴、杀新生儿和隐瞒出生的案例的有用性。根据 Duden 的论点，即体现的经验不是随着时间而固定的，而是根据不同时代的性别、社会和联觉背景来计算的，通过重新阅读法律文件，我试图通过以下方式为这个时代杀婴的法律和医学讨论增加复杂性探索被指控犯有这些做法的妇女及其社区的毛毡身体。以在西澳大利亚进行的三项儿童谋杀案调查为例，我使用罕见的关于母亲在隐瞒怀孕期间的身体体验的报告来论证身心二分法尚未出现。反而，有迹象表明，这些妇女及其社区仍然认为身体是盖伦式体液气质的系统，这对围绕杀婴行为表现出来的否认行为有影响。妇女声称她们没有怀孕，而是有其他医疗问题，以及社区成员尽管怀疑怀孕，但仍不愿指责母亲，这些都受到了新的关注。这些对理解毛毡身体的细微差别对过去的其他物质探索具有有用的意义。妇女声称她们没有怀孕，而是有其他医疗问题，以及社区成员尽管怀疑怀孕，但仍不愿指责母亲，这些都受到了新的关注。这些对理解毛毡身体的细微差别对过去的其他物质探索具有有用的意义。妇女声称她们没有怀孕，而是有其他医疗问题，以及社区成员尽管怀疑怀孕，但仍不愿指责母亲，这些都受到了新的关注。这些对理解毛毡身体的细微差别对过去的其他物质探索具有有用的意义。