The Word Became Flesh
Stigmata, hysteria and skin writing
Keywords:
Stigmata, Marie-Julie Jahenny, Charcot, hysteria, skin writingAbstract
This article examines skin sores and skin writing among religious stigmatists and hospitalized hysterics in France in the last three decades of the 19th century. In 1873, 23-year-old Marie-Julie Jahenny from rural France began to bleed from wounds on her feet, hands and right side, just as the Savior’s monogram and sentences such as Viens, ma victime (come my victim) appeared on her chest. At the same time in hospitals in Paris, hysterics displayed similar stigmata, including anesthesia. In clinical demonstrations, the doctors showed how it was possible with a light touch of a feather to make letters and drawings appear on the numb skin surface. The article deals with how the word became flesh, and people became tools and experimental material in the battle between faith and science. But also, how stigmata and skin writing for stigmatists and hysterics became a form of recognition and way of life.
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