The Birth of a Monstrous Child Throughout History: The Example of Anencephaly Between the Egyptian New Empire an the 21st Century
Authors
Jean-Louis Fischer
Alexandre Koyré Center (CNRS, EHESS, MNHN), International Academy of History of Science, F
Jacques Patrick Barbet
Paris Descartes University, Paris Descartes Faculty of Medicine, F
Keywords:
Anencephaly , History , Monster
Abstract
Anencephaly is of special interest for the historical study of human behaviour after the birth of a monstrous child. Examples of anencephalic human births from Egyptian Antiquity to the present time allow us to create a history of teratology, revealing hiatuses in the medical and scientific interpretation of monstrosity that contrast to a relative continuity in the imaginary processes that accompany the birth of a monstrous child.
