{"id":13087,"date":"2023-02-22T19:29:59","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T19:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T13:52:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T17:52:01","slug":"making-sense-of-the-unfathomable","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/","title":{"rendered":"Making sense of the unfathomable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

English professor analyzes rhetoric about infanticide from 1616 to present<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/iframe>\nWhen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/academics\/undergraduate\/programs\/majors-minors\/english\/\" aria-label=\"English major\">English<\/a> Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.clarku.edu\/faculty\/facultybio.cfm?id=1150\" aria-label=\"Dianne Berg bio\">Dianne Berg<\/a>, M.A. ’10, read about a Duxbury, Massachusetts, mother accused of killing her three children, she thought immediately of two cases from her research. Berg studies representations of domestic violence and the literary appropriation of real stories about death, murder, and infanticide.<\/p>\nShe’s analyzed the discourse and press coverage of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/24775799\" aria-label=\"Margaret Vincent article\">Margaret Vincent<\/a>, a mother of three who killed two of her children in 1616 because she believed that if the family didn’t convert to Catholicism, they would all be damned, and of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(06)69789-4\/fulltext\" aria-label=\"Andrea Yates article\">Andrea Yates<\/a>, a Houston woman suffering from postpartum mental illness who drowned her five children in a bathtub in 2001 because she believed it would save them from hell.<\/p>\nBerg examines the way these women are described in the media. There’s something different about the story of Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury mother, compared to Vincent and Yates, she says. Berg is noticing increased compassion and discussion surrounding postpartum depression and psychosis.<\/p>\n“The push to raise consciousness about postpartum depression and psychosis at a sort of grassroots level is impressive,” Berg says. “More noise has to be made and more pressure has to be put on our lawmakers to address the woeful inadequacy of our healthcare system [on these issues].”<\/p>\nBerg recommends the book “<a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/610854\/dead-blondes-and-bad-mothers-by-sady-doyle\/\" aria-label=\"Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers book\">Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers<\/a>” by Sady Doyle to anyone who wants to read more about this topic.<\/p>\nChallenge. Change.<\/strong> is produced by Andrew Hart and Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL\" aria-label=\"Listen on Spotify\">Spotify<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/challenge-change\/id1608025510\" aria-label=\"Listen on Apple Podcasts\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"English professor analyzes rhetoric about infanticide from 1616 to present<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13088,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"#525250","story_headerImg":13088,"section_label":"Challenge. Change. Podcast","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223,246],"displayed_author":[237],"featured":[],"topic":[232,117,150,160,192,118,207,316,176],"class_list":["post-13087","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","category-health-wellbeing","displayed_author-melissa-hanson","topic-alumni","topic-english","topic-faculty","topic-faculty-research","topic-health-and-disease","topic-major-in-english","topic-massachusetts","topic-mental-health","topic-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Making sense of the unfathomable | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making sense of the unfathomable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"English professor analyzes rhetoric about infanticide from 1616 to present\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ClarkU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-04T17:52:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/22\\\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/22\\\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\\\/\",\"name\":\"Making sense of the unfathomable | ClarkU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/22\\\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/22\\\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-22T19:29:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-04T17:52:01+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/22\\\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/22\\\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Stressed sad mother pushing stroller.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/13087#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/13087\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making sense of the unfathomable | ClarkU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making sense of the unfathomable","og_description":"English professor analyzes rhetoric about infanticide from 1616 to present","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/","og_site_name":"ClarkU News","article_modified_time":"2025-04-04T17:52:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/","name":"Making sense of the unfathomable | ClarkU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-22T19:29:59+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-04T17:52:01+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/22\/making-sense-of-the-unfathomable\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Stressed sad mother pushing stroller."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13087#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ClarkU News","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13087"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/","name":"ClarkU News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/iStock-1007108100-scaled-1-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13087"},{"taxonomy":"displayed_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed_author?post=13087"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=13087"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=13087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}