Falling Autumn Leaves -- The Cultural History of Tuberculosis

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: It is the disease of the poor, yet also the disease of the rich; it is favored by the monarchy, with the royal family visiting the scenes on more than one occasion, and it is also valued by the revolutionary leader of the proletariat, who conducted in-depth research. Particularly interesting is that it is even recorded as a special aesthetic object in various historical records. There, people read that realist writers used its depiction to reveal and curse the social system that causes poverty, while romantic composers sang the Bohemian lifestyle through its portrayal. There, people also read that some view it as "ugly" and avoid it for fear of association with death, while others revere it as "beautiful" and long for the joyous of a melancholic death. Thus, compared to other diseases, tuberculosis indeed has a richer cultural background.