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Donne and the Uses of Anatomy
Author(s) -
Sugg Richard
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
literature compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.158
H-Index - 4
ISSN - 1741-4113
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2004.00114.x
Subject(s) - iconoclasm , realm , ambivalence , anatomy , human anatomy , psychology , art , medicine , psychoanalysis , history , art history , archaeology
This article looks at Donne's ambivalent relationship with the newly dynamic realm of medical anatomy, a sphere made impressively visible in late Tudor and early Stuart England by public dissections and illustrated textbooks. Donne is seen to be strongly attracted to metaphors of interiority which help him to assert a witty iconoclasm, or to embody the vigour of the human self. Elsewhere, however, he registers unease at the newly revealed complexities of anatomy and its potential religious implications.