Psychosomatic Disorders in Seventeenth-Century French Literature

Seventeenth century France saw the rise and solidification of the role of the absolute monarch, exemplified by Louis XIV, Hofer looks at the emotional toll taken by the insistence on controlling emotions as well as actions, mandated by the court and influenced by Cartesian dualism. She uses the fiction of four French authors to demonstrate the awareness of contemporaries to the effect this repression of negative emotions could have on the body. Surin, Moliere, Mme. de Lafayette, and Racine all wrote specifically about what we would think of as psychosomatic illnesses or nervous breakdowns. Beyond the historical recognition of this understanding of mind/body connections, Hofner suggests that the integration of science, emotion and philosophy as proposed by the authors is still a better approach to the understanding of the mind and body in pain. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Bernadette HA?fer is an Assistant Professor of French at The Ohio State University, USA.