Patrick McGrath’s novel Asylum focuses on the transgression of social norms and the destabilization of the boundaries of the self through the language of madness. The narrative links the concept of madness not only to those who are defined insane by the mastering discourse of psychiatry, but also those who “belong” officially to the world of the sane, introducing, in this sense, the disturbing boundary between health and madness. The readers are thus invited to a reflection about the commonly acknowledged spectrum of mental soundness and the varieties of discrimination against people diagnosed (even with benign intentions) with mental illnesses. The strong pattern of inequality in the treatment of people with mental disorders which emerges in the novel violates one of the fundamental principles of the international human rights discourse: the freedom from discrimination.
Mental Illness and Human Rights in Patrick McGrath's Asylum
BATTISTI, Chiara
2015-01-01
Abstract
Patrick McGrath’s novel Asylum focuses on the transgression of social norms and the destabilization of the boundaries of the self through the language of madness. The narrative links the concept of madness not only to those who are defined insane by the mastering discourse of psychiatry, but also those who “belong” officially to the world of the sane, introducing, in this sense, the disturbing boundary between health and madness. The readers are thus invited to a reflection about the commonly acknowledged spectrum of mental soundness and the varieties of discrimination against people diagnosed (even with benign intentions) with mental illnesses. The strong pattern of inequality in the treatment of people with mental disorders which emerges in the novel violates one of the fundamental principles of the international human rights discourse: the freedom from discrimination.
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