Abstract
This book is about the representation of mental distress in the media today. Any critical analysis of public images of madness must first engage, however, with some controversial and long-standing epistemological, terminological and methodological questions. What is madness or ‘mental illness’? Is it a biological fact or a cultural construction? How, historically, has madness been regarded by its sufferers and its observers? What terminology ought to be used in critical discussions of madness? These are large questions and it is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide an exhaustive response of any one of them. In order to set the scene for my subsequent theoretical discussions and textual analyses, however, I shall briefly outline my perspective on the issues they raise.
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