Teratologies

by Jackie Stacey

Stories of cancer are full of monster and marvels; the monstrousness of the disease and the treatments, the marvels of the cures and the saved lives. Still one of the most dreaded diseases to haunt our imaginations, cancer is more than an illness - it is a cultural phenomenon. People who have cancer are bombarded with competing explanations of their it is genetically inherited; it is environmentally produced; it is the result of their personality. Teratologies - A Cultural Study of Cancer investigates how this disease is perceived, experienced and theorised in contemporary society. It explores changing beliefs about the causes of, and the cures for, cancer in both biomedicine and its increasingly popular alternative counterparts.
Analysing conventional and alternative medical accounts, self-help manuals and patients' personal stories, Jackie Stacey takes a critical look at the place of heroes, metaphors, the self and the body in these competing bids to produce the authoritative definition of the meaning of cancer today. Interspersed with these detailed textual investigations are discussions of broader issues such as the feminist debates about the history of science, the place of consumer culture in health practices and the status of patients and of health professionals in postmodern society.
Combining authobiographical narratives with contemporary theoretical debates, the author carves out a specifically feminist analysis of the cultural dimensions of cancer. She brings accounts of her own illness under the critical lens of academic scrutiny and situates these personal stories within a discussion of contemporary cultural change.

Paperback

First published August 19, 1997

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

As heard on This Podcast Will Kill You - Ep 202 Cancer Part 1: What is it?

Cancer has touched every one of us in some capacity, and learning of a diagnosis inspires many more questions than it answers. In this four-part series on cancer, we aim to lay a foundation of knowledge that will help make sense of this multifaceted disease. We begin our four-part series on cancer by asking a deceptively simple question: what is cancer? As we’ll discover over the course of these episodes, there is not one answer but many. After all, cancer is not one disease but many. In this first episode, we examine the clinical definitions of cancer - when someone receives a cancer diagnosis, how is that determined, and what does that mean? Viewing that question through a historical lens reveals our changing understanding of cancer and how that knowledge filters into the public perception of this disease. With cancer diagnoses on the rise, it’s tempting to label cancer a disease of the 20th or 21st centuries. But is that the case? Tune in to find out.

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[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The absent subject in the bed is the absent subject in the discourse.”

“Having had cancer, one wonders when it will be safe to start planning again (if ever). At what point will the apparently healthy appearance of someone who has had cancer be anything other than of troubling significance? And can we trust the stories our bodies tell us after treatment? How capable are we of reading the signs? These disturbances to temporality and self-perception (‘falling out of time’) that result from illness produce a desire for predictable trajectories and guaranteed survival. They generate fantasies of heroic recoveries and miracle cures. These are teratologies: the tales of monsters that pervade the popular imaginary of cancer subcultures.”

[Niamh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sympathetic to the author for her ordeal. I am impressed by some of her arguments, and the eloquence used to present her arguments. I admire her critique of some of the more barmy 'self'health' discourses she encountered on her journey with cancer.

I was so very frustrated by some of the unbelievable sweeping generalisations the author made, and the fact that she used some of the ridiculous self-health assertions she was critiquing to support her argument when it could be molded to wave the feminism flag. The fact remains that 'foetal alcohol syndrome' is not a patriarchal accusation against the innocent and burdened woman. It is a condition that exists. Some women drink when they are pregnant. That is a fact. When a seemingly intelligent and well-versed academic tries to assert otherwise in a book that is supposed to be about cancer, I get angry.

It definitely sparked some interesting responses, so I would recommend reading it if you are taking cultural studies or a related subject, if only to help you identify your own position on the issues raised.