Sarah Ferber and Sally Wilde (eds), The Body Divided: Human Beings and Human 'Material' in Modern Medical History

Abstract

The turn of the new millennium saw an interdisciplinary explosion of studies on the body, as scholars analysed, assessed and deconstructed what had once been taken for granted; historical actors' relationship to their own physical selves. So pervasive is the notion of body—and we use it so often, in so many contexts—that this reviewer found it almost impossible to write about The Body Divided, an excellent collection of essays edited by Sarah Ferber and Sally White, without being pursued by puns at every turn. Is there some other way to talk about a ‘body of literature’? A ‘scholarly corpus’? ‘Material’ culture? ‘Divided’ legacy? ‘Dissection’ of a topic, or even—for those who are truly steeped in anatomy texts—‘dissection’ of a ‘subject’? The Body Divided succeeds in the way dissections in Gray's day succeeded, by providing a wealth of detail while also providing clear guidelines for their interpretation. The volume arose out of a seminar at the University of Queensland based around the work of Helen MacDonald, who provides the first essay, ‘A Body Buried is a Body Wasted’. MacDonald continues her study of the Scottish implementation of nineteenth-century regulation of anatomical materials, using it as a lens through which to analyse conflicts between the scientific interest in body parts and human interest in control over whole bodies. MacDonald's work can be seen as the spine of the volume, ensuring coherence among the essays which follow while allowing flexibility. It is anchored by Leo Brown's Epilogue describing the Thanksgiving Service at the University of Queensland, at which medical students and professors publicly thank the individuals and families who provided their cadavers. The Body Divided thus carries within in it a modern exploration of the tension created by modern medicine: how to study human material without trampling on the legitimate rights and concerns of human beings.