Disease, illness and religion in early modern French Canada with Mary Dunn
Episode 104 - February 7, 2023
Mary Dunn (St. Louis University) discusses her recent book on disease, illness and religion in French Canada over the 17th and 18th centuries. Mary begins with some background on Canada in the period, then moves to discuss some of the main sources from the period and their authors – the Jesuits. The main part of the interview examines some of the illness narratives Mary found in the sources and some of the stories they told about healing. Mary also shares some of her thoughts of how disability studies can contribute to our thinking about the past, and about her personal connection with her sources based on her own life experiences.
Further Reading
- Brockliss, Laurence and Colin Jones. The Medical World of Early Modern France. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
- Dunn, Mary. "Bedside Manners: Sickness and the Jesuit Mission in Early Modern New France," Journal of Jesuit Studies 5, no. 4 (Nov. 2018): 567-585.
- Kleinman, Arthur. The Illness Narratives. New York: Basic Books, 1988.
- Pearson, Timothy. "'I Willingly Speak to You about Her Virtues': Catherine de Saint-Augustine and the Public Role of Female Holiness in Early New France," Church History 79, no. 2 (June 2010): 305-333.
- Worcester, Thomas. "A Defensive Discourse: Jesuits on Disease in Seventeenth-Century New France," French Colonial History 56 (2005): 1-15.
Our Guest
Mary Dunn
Associate Professor – Theological Studies – St. Louis University
