Finding Perceval

by Katherine Valenzuela

 

Finding Perceval is a response to John Thomas Perceval’s autobiography, Perceval’s Narrative, which narrates his experience in lunatic asylums in the 19th century. Perceval had schizophrenia and spent much of his life fighting for the rights of mental health patients. Finding Perceval is a continuation of his efforts to fight against mental health stigma and patient rights, especially as they pertain to those with schizophrenia. 140 years after his death, there is still much work to be done. In a landscape characterized by stigma and polarizing arguments as to what defines this illness (if it can even be called an illness), can we really see Perceval’s influence anywhere?

 

The book aims to reveal where Perceval may be found, and to suggest that he is yet to be discovered. In the end, the book reaches a tentative conclusion - that perhaps he can be found after all, if you just ask “them.”