Performative public health in Fannie Hurst’s ‘T.B.’ (1915)

Abstract

This article examines the performativity of public health warnings embedded in Fannie Hurst’s short story ‘T.B.’ (1915). The author outlines the manner in which Hurst uses the short form to reinforce her warnings about tuberculosis in New York in the early twentieth century. Particular focus is given to Hurst’s theatricality of style, engaging with the dramatic structure of the short form, the spectacle of illness and the political significance of embodiment. This is done within the context of reclaiming Hurst as a writer of importance both to the field of medical humanities and to the study of the short form.