The Blind in French Society from the Middle Ages to the Century of Louis Braille

Nonfiction, History, France
Cover of the book The Blind in French Society from the Middle Ages to the Century of Louis Braille by Zina Weygand, Stanford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Zina Weygand ISBN: 9780804772389
Publisher: Stanford University Press Publication: August 7, 2009
Imprint: Stanford University Press Language: English
Author: Zina Weygand
ISBN: 9780804772389
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication: August 7, 2009
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Language: English

The integration of the blind into society has always meant taking on prejudices and inaccurate representations. Weygand's highly accessible anthropological and cultural history introduces us to both real and imaginary figures from the past, uncovering French attitudes towards the blind from the Middle Ages through the first half of the nineteenth century. Much of the book, however, centers on the eighteenth century, the enlightened age of Diderot's emblematic blind man and of the Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, founded by Valentin Haüy, the great benefactor of blind people.

Weygand paints a moving picture of the blind admitted to the institutions created for them and of the conditions under which they lived, from the officially-sanctioned beggars of the medieval Quinze-Vingts to the cloth makers of the Institute for Blind Workers. She has also uncovered their fictional counterparts in an impressive array of poems, plays, and novels.The book concludes with Braille, whose invention of writing with raised dots gave blind people around the world definitive access to silent reading and to written communication.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The integration of the blind into society has always meant taking on prejudices and inaccurate representations. Weygand's highly accessible anthropological and cultural history introduces us to both real and imaginary figures from the past, uncovering French attitudes towards the blind from the Middle Ages through the first half of the nineteenth century. Much of the book, however, centers on the eighteenth century, the enlightened age of Diderot's emblematic blind man and of the Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, founded by Valentin Haüy, the great benefactor of blind people.

Weygand paints a moving picture of the blind admitted to the institutions created for them and of the conditions under which they lived, from the officially-sanctioned beggars of the medieval Quinze-Vingts to the cloth makers of the Institute for Blind Workers. She has also uncovered their fictional counterparts in an impressive array of poems, plays, and novels.The book concludes with Braille, whose invention of writing with raised dots gave blind people around the world definitive access to silent reading and to written communication.

More books from Stanford University Press

Cover of the book Theaters of Justice by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book Race on the Move by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book The Möbius Strip by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book The Reckoning of Pluralism by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book Controlling Immigration by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book The Book of Shem by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book The Kurillian Knot by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book Islam and Nation by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book Hyperconflict by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book Born Red by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book The Premise of Fidelity by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book Morbid Symptoms by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book The Arts and the Definition of the Human by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book Yosef Haim Brenner by Zina Weygand
Cover of the book Bernie Madoff and the Crisis by Zina Weygand
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy