Madness and the regulation of the self in Bourbon Mexico
âThey say very clearly that I am mad, but they are the ones that do mad thingsâ. So wrote Franciscan Friar Manuel Sevane in 1796, in one of many letters to the Viceroy of New Spain. Sevaneâs letters catalogue his protest against the treatment he received at the hands of his fellow friars at the Apostolic College of Pachuca in New Spain and contest their plans to return him to Spain. Sevaneâs case is an example of the rich archival material that demonstrates how the term madness was used in Bourbon Mexico (1713-1808). His words exemplify how people used madness to mark out individuals, behaviours, and ideas they thought immoral. For the friars living with Sevane, his violence, peculiar noises, and disrespect for religious practices were evidence of his madness. Sevane himself used the same rhetoric to criticise the friars for shunning him, writing reports on him, and ultimately trying to remove him from their community. Historians have yet to fully examine the complex cultural significance of the term and its role in daily life in Bourbon Mexico. This thesis provides a new interpretation of madness. It takes as its starting point Michel Foucaultâs concept of âtechnologies of the selfâ in order
Noble, Rebecca
F1201 Latin America (General) ; RC Internal medicine
Madness and the regulation of the self in Bourbon Mexico. âThey say very clearly that I am mad, but they are the ones that do mad thingsâ. So wrote Franciscan Friar Manuel Sevane in 1796, in one of many letters to the Viceroy of New Spain. Sevaneâs letters catalogue his protest against the treatment he received at the hands of his fellow friars at the Apostolic College of Pachuca in New Spain and contest their plans to return him to Spain. Sevaneâs case is an example of the rich archival material that demonstrates how the term madness was used in Bourbon Mexico (1713-1808). His words exemplify how people used madness to mark out individuals, behaviours, and ideas they thought immoral. For the friars living with Sevane, his violence, peculiar noises, and disrespect for religious practices were evidence of his madness. Sevane himself used the same rhetoric to criticise the friars for shunning him, writing reports on him, and ultimately trying to remove him from their community. Historians have yet to fully examine the complex cultural significance of the term and its role in daily life in Bourbon Mexico. This thesis provides a new interpretation of madness. It takes as its starting point Michel Foucaultâs concept of âtechnologies of the selfâ in order
madness regulation self bourbon mexico say clearly mad mad thing write franciscan friar many letter viceroy new spain letter catalogue protest treatment receive hand fellow friar apostolic college new spain contest plan return spain case example rich archival_material demonstrate term madness use bourbon mexico word exemplify people use madness mark individual behaviour idea think immoral friar live violence peculiar noise religious_practice evidence madness use rhetoric criticise friar write report ultimately try remove community historians yet_fully examine complex cultural_significance term role daily_life bourbon mexico provide_new interpretation madness take_start_point michel_foucault concept technology self order