Exploring the Body
A History of the Stomach. Vertical banded gastroplasty surgery (or stomach stapling) has drawn attention in recent decades to the hidden, but unruly, stomach. This organ has been the focus of weight-control regimes for centuries, however. This lecture looks at nineteenth-century fads involving stomachs, including the medical prescription of tapeworms that were supposed to live in a person's stomach and "eat" food on their behalf. It also explores ideas about the relationship between a person's stomach and their personality. It traces these medical ideas through to the present.
Joanna Bourke is a well-known social and cultural historian. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and outgoing Chair of its Modern History Section, as well as holding the Global Innovations Chair at the University of Newcastle (Australia).
(from gresham.ac.uk)
| Lecture 5 - A History of the Stomach |
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