“I was fascinated with showing the things behind hysteria that were being erased”: Nina Shope on Asylum

What did BPD look like in the 19^th century? It looked like hysteria, a phenomenon that puzzled doctors and fascinated the public. In this episode, I interview Nina Shope, author of the award-winning historical novel Asylum, which explores the power dynamics between Jean-Martin Charcot, the father of neurology as we know it today, and his most famous patient. In the shadows of this dynamic, we find symptoms and conceptualizations of female illness familiar to those of us who experience or study BPD today.

Nina Shope, Asylum

Christopher Bollas, Hysteria

Georges Didi-Huberman, Invention of Hysteria: Charcot and the Photographic Iconography of the Salpêtrière

Sarah Shun-lien, Madeleine Is Sleeping

Elaine Showalter, The Female Malady