Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


ksuhonors1323292411.pdf (7.91 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

The Extraordinary Double Body: Images in Literature, Art, and on the Sideshow Stage

Ingram, Seth
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1323292411

Abstract Details

2011, BA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
Conjoined twins and half-and-half (hermaphrodite) acts were common features of the American sideshow during its heyday from 1840 to 1940. These acts each relied upon the production of multiple selves in a singular body to be perceived as freakish. This paper presents the longstanding connection between conjoined twins and hermaphrodites, as seen in art, literature, and medicine from Classical sources to Renaissance texts. Included are discussions of the double as a product of fusion or fission and of the double-headed alien Zaphod Beeblebrox from Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Also addressed are portrayals of conjoined twins in literary works by Mark Twain and Katherine Dunn and the symbolism of the half-and-half in works by Robertson Davies and Carson McCullers. Finally, the portrayal of conjoined twins in promotional materials, specifically Millie-Christine and Violet and Daisy Hilton, is analyzed, along with materials from a number of different half-and-half acts. Finally, an overview of sideshow banner artwork is presented along with an original banner painted by the author.
Claire Culleton, PhD (Advisor)
Kevin Floyd, PhD (Committee Member)
Christina McVay (Committee Member)
Sara Newman, PhD (Committee Member)
155 p.
American Literature; American Studies; Art Criticism; Literature
sideshow; conjoined twins; half-and-half; hermaphrodite; banner painting; literary double

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ingram, S. (2011). The Extraordinary Double Body: Images in Literature, Art, and on the Sideshow Stage [Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1323292411

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ingram, Seth. The Extraordinary Double Body: Images in Literature, Art, and on the Sideshow Stage. 2011. Kent State University, Undergraduate thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1323292411.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ingram, Seth. "The Extraordinary Double Body: Images in Literature, Art, and on the Sideshow Stage." Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1323292411

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ksuhonors1323292411
1,516
© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University Honors College and OhioLINK.