Description

This monograph translates and interrogates our knowledge,
sources of evidence and the process of organising historical
claims about autism. We introduce the work of two Russian
psychiatrists, P.B. Gannushkin (1875-1933) and G.E. Suhareva
(1891-1981), whose contributions remain largely overlooked in
the English-speaking literature. The primary aim of our work is
to reflect on what we can learn from Gannushkin’s and Suhareva’s
research concerning early autism studies. Additionally, we
explore some indirect estimations related to various contextual
factors, including politics and historical conventions, that shaped
the everyday lives of autistic individuals and their immediate
surroundings over the years, as well as the broader political
and cultural legacy that continues to affect the field today.
The authors’ interpretations are based on culturally situated
frameworks and a personal understanding and commitment
as represented by what is esteemed in specialist discussions
surrounding early 20th-century Russian psychiatry and the
Russian medical lexicon. We aim to utilise such translations to
narrate an alternative (hi)story of knowledge and re-assemble
and even reverse the understanding of autism.