Sex Religion and the Making of Modern Madness

Drawing upon a rich set of asylum patient case records this book reconstructs the encounter of state officials and medical practitioners with peasant madness and deviancy at a transitional period in German and psychiatry history. Focusing on religious madness nymphomania masturbatory insanity and Jewishness this study probes the daily encounters in which psychiatric categories were applied experienced and resisted in the settings of family village and insane asylum. Goldberg's careful examination sheds light on a range of issues concerning gender sexuality religious politics class relations state-building and anti-Semitism.