Private Bodies, Public Texts

Holloway Karla FC Holloway

Description

In Private Bodies, Public Texts, Karla FC Holloway examines instances where medical issues and information that would usually be seen as intimate, private matters are forced into the public sphere. As she demonstrates, the resulting social dramas often play out on the bodies of women and African Americans. Holloway discusses the spectacle of the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case and the injustice of medical researchers' use of Henrietta Lacks's cell line without her or her family's knowledge or permission. She offers a provocative reading of the Tuskegee syphilis study and a haunting account of the ethical dilemmas that confronted physicians, patients, and families when a hospital became a space for dying rather than healing during Hurricane Katrina; even at that dire moment, race mattered. Private Bodies, Public Texts is a compelling call for a cultural bioethics that attends to the historical and social factors that render some populations more vulnerable than others in medical and legal contexts. Holloway proposes literature as a conceptual anchor for discussions of race, gender, bioethics, and the right to privacy. Literary narratives can accommodate thick description, multiple subjectivities, contradiction, and complexity.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• USA
• Ethnic studies
• Medical sociology
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 14 mars 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822393719
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

“[A] fascinating book about the unique experience of death and dying within African American culture. . . . By weaving interviews, historical accounts, and personal reLection, Holloway demonstrates how a combination of racial injustice, violence against blacks, and medical neglect has shaped black people’s expected transition between this world and the afterlife. . . . [ït] may help physicians today understand why some African Americans do not fully trust our present medical system.” —RIàN C. REED, MD,Journal of the American Medical Association

“Karla Holloway writes about a central and little- explored American phenomenon with a wide and patient breadth of knowledge and a startlingly pro- found personal depth. ït feels like a book as dura- ble as a well-shaped stone—as reliable, useful and înally consoling, however hard to bear.” —REYNODS PRICE, author ofArdent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back

“Beginning with the tragic loss of her son, Karla Holloway poignantly examines how race not only affects the meaning of black lives, but their deaths as well.” —PàUà GIDDINGS, author ofWhen and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America

Praise for

PA S S E D O N :

A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N

M O U R N I N G

S TO R I E S ,

A M E M O R I A L

BY

K A R L A F C

H O L L O WAY

“[A] stunning portrait of African American death in the 20th century that includes discussions of the business of funerals and wakes, the ways African Americans die (using a host of statistical analysis), and the place of the black church and funeral ceremonies in African American culture. Ône of the particularly startling points ofPassed Onis Holloway’s inclu- sion of her son’s death in her prologue and his funeral sermon at the end.Passed Onis a valuable book because it is able to articulate distinct social practices, and ultimately show how death pervades not only African American life, but identity.” —Virginia Quarterly Review

“Holloway weaves a seamless and engaging narrative from interviews, historical sources and personal testimony, show- ing continuity in the black experience of death. . . . Her tales are by turns poignant, horrifying and amusing.” —JOSIE àPPETON,Times Literary Supplement

“unctuated with Holloway’s personal stories (including that of her son’s death), the book is an elegantly written survey for general readers and cultural historians alike.” —Publishers Weekly

“[An] engaging and, at times, heartbreaking, study of death in African American culture . . . [Holloway] demonstrates how cultural and academic criticism can, and should, have a personal effect, both for those who write it and for those who read it. ït is a lesson she learned well from W. É. B. u Bois.” —ERI EDSOE,ForeWord

“he threatening possibility of injury, abuse, and premature death stalks black lives in America as the movingPassed On poignantly evidences. . . . Holloway’s description of how the prison overseer galloped after [her son], shooting him in the back 17 times is chilling and sensitizes the reader to keep at the front of their mind the sorrowful dimension inherent in her topic.” — àY OURNE,Bay State Banner(Boston)

“Holloway’s book is a survivor’s tale, itself built on remem- brances of survivors. . . . Higher praise is hard to express.” —JON SàIàNT,Chicken Bones: A Journal

“[]his powerful, moving, and frequently upsetting book is welcome. ït speaks to a deep sorrow in the African American zeitgeist. . . .Passed Onventures close to places many folks would rather not go. [Holloway’s] courage and empathy are apparent throughout this path-breaking book.” —TIM àSETT, Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire

“Filled with research on gut-wrenching details of lynchings and sometimes shoddy undertaking practices, and recount- ing many personal stories, the book is both hard to read and hard to put down.” —YNDà ZIMMER,The News-Gazette(Çhampaign-Ûrbana, ïllinois)

“Passed Onis a well-researched and beautifully written book. . . . [A] memorable text that dares to arm and celebrate black life even in the midst of the conditions of death.” —àTON . POàRD III,Alabama Review

“his well-written history of African American funeral prac- tice encompasses history, narrative, and social science. . . . Ône is grateful for the store of information provided by Hol- loway’s scholarship, amazed at our resilience given the some- times horriîc history Holloway presents, and awed by the strength of soul that allowed her to conceive this work and bring it to term even as she mourned her own son.Passed On is a highly recommended read.” —INDà I. IRàND-àRRIS, The African American Pulpit

PRI VATE

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BODI ES,

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PUBLI C

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TEXTS

P R I VAT E

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B O D I E S ,

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P U B L I C

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T E X T S

Race, Gender, and a Cultural Bioethics

K A R L A F C H O L LOWAY

uke Ûniversity ress • Du London • 2011 rham and

© 2011 uke Ûniversity ress

All rights reserved

rinted in the Ûnited Śtates

of America on acid-free paper ♾

esigned by Amy uth Buchanan

ypeset in Çharis

by seng ïnformation Śystems, ïnc.

ibrary of Çongress Çataloging-

in-ublication ata appear on the

last printed page of this book.

This book is dedicated

to the memory of my sister,

Karen Andrea,

who lived a loving life

of interdisciplinary

intelligence and grace.

She blessed us all.