THE “AFTER-LIFE” OF ILLNESS: READING AGAINST THE DEATHBED IN GASKELL'S RUTH AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY CONVALESCENT DEVOTIONALS
Dr Hosanna Krienke
Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Hosanna Krienke specializes in nineteenth-century British Literature, history of science and medicine, gender studies, disability studies, and medical humanities. She received her PhD in English from Northwestern University, and her MA at Boston College.
As a post-doc on the Diseases of Modern Life project, Hosanna Krienke helped design public engagement events, represented the project at various conferences, and researched the Victorian convalescence movement. For many nineteenth-century reformers, post-acute convalescent care seemed to offer a potent solution to various moral, social, and physical ills. In the face of such modern pressures like information overload, crowded urban living, and hectic work schedules, campaigners believed that an expansive period of rest following serious illness was critical to life-long health. Her work on the project has resulted in a book-length manuscript (currently under review) tentatively titled Convalescent Time and a forthcoming article in Victorian Review, “‘The Wholesome Application’ of Novels: Gender and Rehabilitative Reading in The Moonstone.”
