"Immune from a Thousand Ailments": Advertising Immunity in Australia, 1890–1945.
In the late 19th century, as the Australian public was adjusting to germ theory, a narrative of immunity provided new ways to understand resistance to disease. Advertising, particularly for patent medicines, frequently adopted a hyperbolic rhetoric of immunity to sell products. In this article, we u...
| Published in: | Journal of Australian Studies Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 119 - 141 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Mar2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=183372419&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 183372419 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 14443058 3J2 jtl: Journal of Australian Studies issn: 14443058 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2025 vid: 49 iid: 1 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 183372419 10.1080/14443058.2024.2448951 ppf: 119 ppct: 22 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.5MB tig: atl: "Immune from a Thousand Ailments": Advertising Immunity in Australia, 1890–1945. aug: au: Long, Maebh Burnette, Jessie Grard, Pascale Theunisz, Marie affil: Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Linguistics Programme, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand English Programme, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand su: Clinical immunology Natural immunity Newspaper advertising Germ theory of disease Race identity sug: subj: Clinical immunology Natural immunity Newspaper advertising Germ theory of disease Race identity keyword: Immunity immunology medical history newspaper advertising patent medicine ab: In the late 19th century, as the Australian public was adjusting to germ theory, a narrative of immunity provided new ways to understand resistance to disease. Advertising, particularly for patent medicines, frequently adopted a hyperbolic rhetoric of immunity to sell products. In this article, we use the Trove database to present the ways immunity was presented to the public in newspaper advertising between 1890 and 1945. Our article combines a broad overview of portrayals of immunity with three focused analyses that demonstrate immunity's discursive range, its decoupling from immunological understandings and its insertion into capitalism. First, we show how clothing brands framed their products as modes of enhanced boundary protection superior to patent medicines. Second, we look to the connections between immunity and racial identity, revealing how advertisements followed an immunological logic: White Australians, advertisements implied, could immunise themselves against the unfamiliar by incorporating small elements of difference into their diet and health regimes. Finally, we unpack the advertisements' oscillation between immunity as an enhancement to the body and as a remedy for an inherent bodily weakness. This movement, illuminated through Jacques Derrida's logic of the supplement, reinforced the alignment of immunity with products and brands rather than immunological functions. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Journal of Australian Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Journal of Australian Studies holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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