Dr Alanna Skuse

"The idea that 'things that are natural are better than things that are man-made' is a Renaissance idea. It’s not something that is innate in humans. It’s cultural but so well-embedded that we don’t see it.

"When you go back into history, you can dig up why you think like you think; why you believe the things that you believe, and you can see that there is precedent for that, and things haven’t always been the same." 

Dr Alanna Skuse is a Wellcome Trust University Award holder, and an expert in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, teaching everything from Shakespeare to Dickens.

Her research focuses on the links between literature and medicine, especially how people used poems and stories to think about their bodies and health, at a time when the world was changing and new political, cultural and scientific ideas were transforming the lives of everyday people.

Alanna's focus is on the English Renaissance period from 1600 to 1700. While researching for her master’s, a woman’s diary entry sparked Alanna’s interest in the history, perceptions and fear of cancer. At the time, people believed that bruising could cause cancer, so an unstable wheel on a carriage was a major cause for concern.

Alanna’s research led her to publish her first book, Constructions of Cancer in Early Modern England: Ravenous Natures (Palgrave, 2015). From here, her research expanded to examine representations of body-altering surgeries such as mastectomies, amputation, castration and, more recently, self-injury. 

Commenting on how attitudes have changed over time, Alanna says:

“Today, we reference ‘self-harm’ and think of it as a modern phenomenon. Back in the Renaissance, there was no word for it; they didn’t regard the behaviour as problematic. Instead, it was viewed as emotional regulation or a form of protest.” 

She cites Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, where Portia, as a woman of the time with limited agency, takes action and demonstrates that if she can bear pain silently, she can be trusted with secrets:

"I have made strong proof of my constancy, / Giving myself a voluntary wound / Here, in the thigh."

(Act 2, Scene 1)

In the past, self-injury was not considered negatively as "attention-seeking" or a sign of a deeper problem. Instead, it was viewed as "normal behaviour" until it became pathologized in the nineteenth century.

In early modern studies, students examine the interconnectedness between literary texts and the cultural and political processes of the time.

Alanna is currently teaching Thomas Dekker’s play The Shoemakers’ Holiday, first staged in 1599. Shoemaker Ralph returns from military service lame and disfigured and must confront how this will affect his identity and place in society.

Alanna is regularly asked to contribute to radio programmes and podcasts on historical, literary references to cancer following the publication of her book. In addition, she has recently created two projects to help advance the contemporary understanding of wellbeing, using the history of medicine as a framework:

Destigmatising Self-injury Through Art 

In collaboration with Associate Professor Tina O’Connell, who runs Reading’s ArtLab, Alanna devised a series of workshops for participants who have either a professional or personal experience of self-injury.

Alanna introduced the session with historical references to self-injury, demonstrating that this is not just modern-day behaviour but one in which attitudes have changed. Alanna used a range of techniques, from clay modelling to digital animation, to facilitate open discussion on personal experiences of self-injury.

Read more about the Destigmatising Self-injury Through Art workshops

Watch Alanna's video about the workshops

I Am Worthy by Self Injury Through Time 

In a recent initiative, Alanna, acta, and Self Injury Support created a community theatre project. Volunteers collaborated to create a unique theatre show delivered over two nights. The event was an evening of visual art, theatre and spoken word, exploring how attitudes towards self-injury have changed and what needs to change to challenge the stigma. The thoughts of external contributors were included in the show and a small exhibition. A zine will be created to incorporate all of this material and made available to schools, primary care trusts and mental health organisations. 

Reflecting on the initiative, Alanna said:

“I am proud of the Self Injury Through Time project. It’s a small project but it has made a massive difference to the people involved in it. Participants have benefitted from having a regular purpose and peer support but the wider impact is for those coming to watch the show or accessing the content. Feedback from the shows was incredible, with one audience member saying it was the most powerful piece of theatre they’d ever seen!”

Find out more about studying English Literature at Reading