Degeneration (Nordau)

Degeneration (Entartung, 1892–1893) is a two-volume work of social criticism by Max Nordau.

Within this work he attacks what he believed to be degenerate art and comments on the effects of a range of social phenomena of the period, such as rapid urbanization and its perceived effects on the human body. Nordau believed degeneration should be diagnosed as a mental illness because those who were deviant were sick and required therapy. These comments stemmed from his background as a trained physician, taught by the Parisian neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot.