Psychopharmacology in British Literature and Culture, 1780–1900

Download or read book Psychopharmacology in British Literature and Culture, 1780–1900 written by Natalie Roxburgh and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays examines the way psychoactive substances are described and discussed within late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British literary and cultural texts. Covering several genres, such as novels, poetry, autobiography and non-fiction, individual essays provide insights on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century understandings of drug effects of opium, alcohol and many other plant-based substances. Contributors consider both contemporary and recent medical knowledge in order to contextualise and illuminate understandings of how drugs were utilised as stimulants, as relaxants, for pleasure, as pain relievers and for other purposes. Chapters also examine the novelty of experimentations of drugs in conversation with the way literary texts incorporate them, highlighting the importance of literary and cultural texts for addressing ethical questions.