Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture: (Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture)

This open access book investigates imaginaries of artificial limbs, eyes, hair, and teeth in British and American literary and cultural sources from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture shows how depictions of prostheses complicated the contemporary bodily status quo, which increasingly demanded an appearance of physical wholeness. Revealing how representations of the prostheticized body were inflected significantly by factors such as social class, gender, and age, Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture argues that nineteenth-century prosthesis narratives, though presented in a predominantly ableist and sometimes disablist manner, challenged the dominance of physical completeness as they questioned the logic of prostheticization or presented non-normative subjects in threateningly powerful ways. Considering texts by authors including Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, and Arthur Conan Doyle alongside various cultural, medical, and commercial materials, this book provides an important reappraisal of historical attitudes to not only prostheses but also concepts of physical normalcy and difference.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction.- 2. Constructing and Complicating Physical Wholeness.- 3.“The infurnal thing”: Autonomy and Ability in Narratives of Disabling, Self-Acting, and Weaponised Prostheses.- 4. Mobilities: Physical and Social.- 5. “Losing a Leg to Gain a Wife”: Marriage, Gender, and the Prosthetic Body Part.- 6. Signs of Decline? Prostheses and the Ageing Subject.- 7. Conclusion.

About the Author :
Ryan Sweet is a Lecturer in Humanities and the Director of the Humanities Foundation Year at Swansea University, UK.

Review :
"Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture offers an insightful and nuanced investigation of the portrayal of artificial body parts--limbs, eyes, hair, and teeth--in British and American literary and cultural contexts of the nineteenth- and early-twentieth centuries. ... Due to its unique subject matter, this text may appeal to a wide range of readers, including scholars of medicine, culture, literature and film; biology enthusiasts; and anyone interested in exploring a distinctive topic." (Tami Andrew, Marginalia, marginalia.blogs.rice.edu, September 22, 2025) "Ryan Sweet's exploration of prosthetic body parts in Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture is historically thorough, theoretically significant, and often delightful. ... This volume boasts an impressive amount of information. ... Prosthetic Body Parts exemplifies interdisciplinary cultural critique that reveals the provenance of dangerous, yet stubbornly persistent, biases, and contributes significantly to the work of dismantling them." (Shannon R. Wooden, Victorian Studies, Vol. 66 (3), 2024) "Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture will be a valuable point of departure to embark on these critical queries since it carves its own niche as being a comprehensive investigation of prosthetics, 'wholeness' and 'passing' within specific Victorian and modern contexts. Its astounding assortment of texts and its depth of 102 Literature & History 31(1) analysis will leave readers thoroughly informed about and intrigued at the Victorian cultural imaginaries of prosthetics." (Botsa Katara, Literature & History, Vol. 31 (1), 2022) "Ryan Sweet's monograph ... is a meticulously researched project that analyses Anglo- American Victorian representations of prosthetics and their users. This new open-access addition to the Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Cultureseries will be of interest to anyone working within either nineteenth-century studies or disability studies as well as within the histories of science and technology. ... this is a deft and intriguing exploration of prosthesis in Victorian culture, and researchers will greatly benefit from engaging with it." (Joe Holloway, BAVS Newsletter, Vol. 22 (1), 2022)