Phthisis and Romantic Sensibility:  The Social Construction of the Idea of Illness

Carlos Miguel  Ferreira; André  Costa; Sandro  Serpa; Jorge  Ferraz

doi:10.36941/jesr-2024-0156

Authors

Carlos Miguel Ferreira Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences, CICS.NOVA, Portugal
André Costa Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, Portugal
Sandro Serpa University of the Azores, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, Department of Sociology, Portugal; Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences, CICS.UAc/CICS.NOVA.UAc, Portugal; Interdisciplinary Centre for Childhood and Adolescence, NICA, UAc, Portugal
Jorge Ferraz Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies, Estoril, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2024-0156

Keywords:

Social construction, Illness, Disease, Tysica, Romanticism

Abstract

This article aims to understand the process of social construction of the idea of phthisis as a “romantic” illness. The construction of the discursive space on phthisis expresses the conjuncture coalitions of interests that shape the different discursive registers produced by various agents from diverse social spaces (political, medical, religious, literary), making it possible to recognise, legitimise and promote the social visibility of the idea of phthisis as a “romantic” illness. Phthisis, associated with a romantic aesthetic, was seen as a hereditary disease or an illness associated with fate that affected the sensitive souls of the romantic elites, namely young people, women and fragile beings who were consumed by “sad passions”.

Received: 1 June 2024 / Accepted: 21 October 2024 / Published: 05 November 2024