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CHAPTER1.PERFORMANCEOFTHEBODY
25
oftheseChopinianperformancesisasymbolicculturalactanddecipheringitplaces
usclosertounderstandingthephilosophyofnineteenthcenturyculture-bothhigh
andpopular.AccordingtoErnstCassirer’sideaofdialecticunity-theco-existence
ofcontradictoryqualitieswithinthehumanbeing-wecanplaceChopin’ssubstan-
tialityinanoverallperformanceofRomanticism,understoodasaculturalcurrent
andconceptinthehistoryofideas.
Tuberculosis:ItsRomanticMetaphorsinPopularCulture
versusMedicalEtiology
Etymologyindicatesthattuberculosiswasonceconsideredatypeofabnormalextru-
sion:thewordutuberculosis”(Polishgruźlica)-fromLatintuberculum,thediminutive
oftuber(gruzełek),ubump”,uswelling”-meansamorbidswelling,protuberance,
projectionorgrowth.
11
Theothertermtodenotethisillness,uconsumption”(Polish
suchoty),fromtheGreekphtisis,describestheprogressiveemaciationandthephysi-
calappearanceofthepersonstrickenbythedisease.12TheOxfordEnglishDictionary
recordsuconsumption”inuseasasynonymforpulmonarytuberculosisasearlyas
1398.JohnofTrevisawrites:uWhantheblodeismadethynne,sofolowythcon-
sumpcyonandwastyng”.13
Inordertorecognizethesignificanceoftheimageoftuberculosisinthecon-
sciousnessofthecontemporariesofChopin,onemightconsultethnologicalsources.
ŻelazowaWola,theplaceofhisbirth,aswellasitsMazovianvicinitiesformaunique
area.Chopin’sfamilymovedtoWarsawwhenhewasachildbuthewouldcomeback
forthesummerasanadolescent;thismadealastingimprint,andevenafterleav-
ingPolandwasreflectedinhisoeuvre,whichfeaturedreferencestoMazovianfolk
music,evendespitethedistanceintermsofsocialbackground.Theentryonsuchoty
inAdamPaluch’sEtnologicznyatlasciałaludzkiegoichorób(uAnEthnologicalAtlasof
theHumanBodyandDisease”)lists:udera,gruźlica,jaducha,ślązok,nędza”.14All
ofthesetermsaresomehowrelatedtochestillnesses,specificallythoseofthelungs,
which,however,notalwaysleadtochronicweaknessandattenuation.Peoplewith
TBwereverythin,pale,withnoappetiteandsufferedfrominsomnia,coughingand
11CitedinSontag:uThesameetymologyisgiveninthestandardFrenchdictionaries.(Laturbule’
wasintroducedinthesixteenthcenturybyAmbroiseParéfromtheLatintuberculum,meaning
(petitebosse’(littlelump).InDiderot’sEncyclopédie,theentryontuberculosis(1765)citesthe
definitiongivenbytheEnglishphysicianRichardMortoninhisPhthisiologia(1689):(despetits
tumeursquiparaissentsurlasurfaceducorps’.InFrench,alltinysurfacetumorswereoncecalled
(tubercules’;thewordbecamelimitedtowhatwedefineasTBonlyafterKoch’sdiscoveryofthe
tuberclebacillus”.SusanSontag,IllnessasMethaphor,op.cit.,p.11.
12Ibidem.
13Citedin:ibidem,p.10.
14
AdamPaluch,Etnologicznyatlasciałaludzkiegoichorób,WydawnictwoUniwersytetuWrocławskiego,
Wrocław,1995,p.100-101.
