Mediating Madness

Images and representations of madness are prevalent across historical and contemporary media culture and it is assumed that past images share basic similarities with modern media stereotypes. Simon Cross's Mediating Madness: Mental Distress and Cultural Representation rejects this conventional view [...]
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Images and representations of madness are prevalent across historical and contemporary media culture and it is assumed that past images share basic similarities with modern media stereotypes. Simon Cross's Mediating Madness: Mental Distress and Cultural Representation rejects this conventional view and offers instead an understanding of change and continuity in the cultural image of madness. Using a unique blend of cultural history, journalism studies and media analysis, Cross explores how and why images of madness and mad folk remain central to the popular imagination. He shows that while the psychiatric profession would prefer to abolish the lay category of 'madness' as unscientific, it remains indispensable for contemporary media and cultural analysis. Through a series of historically informed case studies, madness is revealed to be a critical counterpoint in the changing cultural politics of mental distress. As such, Mediating Madness will be invaluable reading for students and scholars of cultural and media studies, journalism and applied social studies.