An epidemic of apathy: Abulia and the language of pathology in Baroja's early fiction
Murphy, K
Date: 3 August 2023
Article
Journal
Hispanic Review
Publisher
University of Pennsylvania Press
Publisher DOI
Abstract
The literary exposition of abulia in Pío Baroja’s early novels, especially La lucha por
la vida trilogy, illuminates the ways in which diagnostic language from psychopathology was
adapted, assimilated and disseminated through the trajectories of fictional characters who
suffer from a loss of volition. This article analyses cultural ...
The literary exposition of abulia in Pío Baroja’s early novels, especially La lucha por
la vida trilogy, illuminates the ways in which diagnostic language from psychopathology was
adapted, assimilated and disseminated through the trajectories of fictional characters who
suffer from a loss of volition. This article analyses cultural narratives about abulia in Baroja’s
early fiction, demonstrating that they constitute a resonant pathological metaphor during a
period in Spain’s history defined by national introspection and regenerationist debates. By
tracing metaphorical explanations for social, political and economic circumstances conveyed
through the literary appropriation of medical terminology, the study explores comparisons
between abulia and the gendered and class-based associations of neurasthenia at the turn of
the twentieth century. Although the assumed causes of each condition are different, this
process of transposition between medicine and metaphor anticipates the contemporary social,
cultural and ideological shaping of concepts such as stress and burnout.
Hispanic Studies
Collections of Former Colleges
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