Tropical Tensions: British ideas of medicine, hygiene and sanitation in warm climates, 1870-1914. (360G-Wellcome-081904_Z_07_Z)

£1,500

The historiography of tropical medicine and hygiene is dominated by its evolution from a marginalized and diffuse body of knowledge at the periphery, towards a consolidated metropolitan discourse empowering a 'new' imperialism. Such histories typically narrate the role of practitioners, tropical colonies, colonial administrations, and parasitic diseases in the development of a modern, and institutionalized discipline. Important as these approaches are, the discourses they describe were neither as stable, nor straightforward. This thesis argues that ideas of British tropical medicine, hygiene and sanitation during the period of 1870 to 1914 are best understood by examining local tensions they experienced both at home and abroad. Throughout Western discourse the tropics have been subject to tension - a 'tropical alterity' - paradisiacal and pestilential, luxuriant abundance set amidst violence and destruction. The 'otherness' of the tropics was neither inherent nor stable, but was continuously maintained and defined. The right to define and maintain 'tropical' identities was a source of great tension. Interactions between British and indigenous medicine and science created and established a hybrid of identities and knowledge, blurring distinctions between centre and periphery. Several 'central peripheries' created and disseminated knowledge between what Chambers and Gillespie have identified as a 'polycentric communications network'. However, the distributed power between these 'centres' was not equal, precipitating various points of tension. The outline is as follows: Chapter - I: The London Livingston Exhibitions: 'tabloids', flannel binders and the preservation of health in tropical climates; Chapter - II: Netley School of Medicine; Chapter - III: Tropical Surgeons; Chapter - IV: Tropical Medical Missionaries; Chapter - V: 'Tropical' Plague; Chapter - VI: Tropical Waste Management. The majority of my research material is found at Oxford and the Wellcome Library at UCL. Since the first half of my thesis is primarily concerned with lay and popular perceptions of tropical medicine, hygiene and sanitation, the majority of my sources are found at British institutions. However, once I consider the movement of ideas into various local tropical settings - through medical missionaries and tropical surgeons - I will be required to travel to such locations to gain access to a range of primary sources, as well as considering the context first hand.

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Grant Details

Amount Awarded 1500
Applicant Surname Johnson
Approval Committee Medical History and Humanities Funding Committee
Award Date 2006-10-27T00:00:00+00:00
Financial Year 2006/07
Grant Programme: Title Studentship: Inactive scheme
Internal ID 081904/Z/07/Z
Lead Applicant Dr Ryan Johnson
Partnership Value 1500
Planned Dates: End Date 2008-06-30T00:00:00+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2006-10-01T00:00:00+00:00
Recipient Org: Country United Kingdom
Region South East