The Ailing City

Health, Tuberculosis, and Culture in Buenos Aires, 1870–1950

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Medical, Reference, History, Americas, South America
Cover of the book The Ailing City by Diego Armus, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Diego Armus ISBN: 9780822394198
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: July 8, 2011
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Diego Armus
ISBN: 9780822394198
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: July 8, 2011
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

For decades, tuberculosis in Buenos Aires was more than a dangerous bacillus. It was also an anxious state of mind shaped not only by fears of contagion and death but also by broader social and cultural concerns. These worries included changing work routines, rapid urban growth and its consequences for housing and living conditions, efforts to build a healthy “national race,” and shifting notions of normality and pathology. In The Ailing City, the historian Diego Armus explores the metaphors, state policies, and experiences associated with tuberculosis in Buenos Aires between 1870 and 1950. During those years, the disease was conspicuous and frightening, and biomedicine was unable to offer an effective cure. Against the background of the global history of tuberculosis, Armus focuses on the making and consolidation of medicalized urban life in the Argentine capital. He discusses the state’s intrusion into private lives and the ways that those suffering from the disease accommodated and resisted official attempts to care for them and to reform and control their morality, sociability, sexuality, and daily habits. The Ailing City is based on an impressive array of sources, including literature, journalism, labor press, medical journals, tango lyrics, films, advertising, imagery, statistics, official reports, and oral history. It offers a unique perspective on the emergence of modernity in a cosmopolitan city on the periphery of world capitalism.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

For decades, tuberculosis in Buenos Aires was more than a dangerous bacillus. It was also an anxious state of mind shaped not only by fears of contagion and death but also by broader social and cultural concerns. These worries included changing work routines, rapid urban growth and its consequences for housing and living conditions, efforts to build a healthy “national race,” and shifting notions of normality and pathology. In The Ailing City, the historian Diego Armus explores the metaphors, state policies, and experiences associated with tuberculosis in Buenos Aires between 1870 and 1950. During those years, the disease was conspicuous and frightening, and biomedicine was unable to offer an effective cure. Against the background of the global history of tuberculosis, Armus focuses on the making and consolidation of medicalized urban life in the Argentine capital. He discusses the state’s intrusion into private lives and the ways that those suffering from the disease accommodated and resisted official attempts to care for them and to reform and control their morality, sociability, sexuality, and daily habits. The Ailing City is based on an impressive array of sources, including literature, journalism, labor press, medical journals, tango lyrics, films, advertising, imagery, statistics, official reports, and oral history. It offers a unique perspective on the emergence of modernity in a cosmopolitan city on the periphery of world capitalism.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Media Theory in Japan by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Black Nationalism in the New World by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Another Face of Empire by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Working Fictions by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Reading for Realism by Diego Armus
Cover of the book The Barbara Johnson Reader by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Anthropology and the Racial Politics of Culture by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Improvisation and Social Aesthetics by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Reproducing the French Race by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Breaking Bad and Cinematic Television by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Diaspora and Trust by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Genocide by Diego Armus
Cover of the book I'm Black When I'm Singing, I'm Blue When I Ain't and Other Plays by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Uncivil Youth by Diego Armus
Cover of the book Intercultural Utopias by Diego Armus
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy