P. T. Barnum, the Freak Show, and the (Re)presentation of the Anomalous Body
Barbara Pitak-Piaskowska
barbara.pitak-piaskowska@ug.edu.plUniversity of Gdańsk (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9428-4475
Abstract
This article addresses the characteristics of the nineteenth-century American museum of curiosities created by Phineas Taylor Barnum in its historical perspective with a particular focus on the stage shows known as freak shows. Considered the founder of American entertainment, Barnum specialized in presenting human oddities—people either physically deformed or with various appearance-related anomalies, including people with dwarfism or gigantism, bearded women, Siamese twins, and many others. The author’s aim is to encourage a discussion on Barnum’s persistent control over the presentation of non-normative bodies that emerge in his museum due to human curiosities employed there—a presentation based on fictitious stories. Aiming to fulfill Barnum’s guiding principle, which can be summarized as “it doesn’t matter how, it matters that they talk,” the micro-story–embedded text simultaneously addresses the problem of the rhetoric of advertising based on an imagined narrative, evoking characters such as Joyce Heth, General Tom Thumb, and William Henry Johnson.
Disclosure Statement
Keywords:
P. T. Barnum, museum of curiosities, freak show, body, anomalous, advertising, disability, humbugReferences
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Authors
Barbara Pitak-Piaskowskabarbara.pitak-piaskowska@ug.edu.pl
University of Gdańsk Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9428-4475
Barbara Pitak-Piaskowska – PhD, she is an Assistant Professor in the Performing Arts Department at the University of Gdańsk. A theater historian and critic. Her primary research interests include American musical theater and film, popular culture and entertainment, the social contexts of cultural texts, and the affinity of the arts. Her work has been supported by prestigious fellowships from the University of Cambridge, the British Association for American Studies, the Eccles Centre in London, and the JFK Institute in Berlin. She is a member of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR), the International Society for the Study of Musicals, and the Polish Society for Theatre Research, and serves on the jury for the Maryna Miklaszewska Award for excellence in Polish musical theater.
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