Open AccessThe alienist: madness, science and parody
Author(s) -
Dino Del Pino
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
anamorphosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2446-8088
DOI - 10.21119/anamps.11.157-173/translation
Subject(s) - hubris , pretext , character (mathematics) , field (mathematics) , value (mathematics) , art , art history , dystopia , point (geometry) , aesthetics , literature , sociology , computer science , political science , law , classics , politics , geometry , mathematics , machine learning , pure mathematics
The explanation of Simão Bacamarte’s personal and public dimensions introduces the diegetic scenario that aims to highlight the part played by madness as a pretext for social control. After recuperating the conditions to which senseless people submitted to in modern times, especially in France, we point to the hubris as relevant in the field of science, exemplifying it by using the intertextual link between The Alienist and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. During the conclusion, we aimed to show – after drawing a brief parallel between Simão and Brás Cubas – that Simão represents a parody of “the scientist”, a character that took shape with the evolution of the history of science and which was given unprecedented value after the 19th century.