Literary notes about Infantile (AI summary)
The term "infantile" appears in literature with a dual role, serving both as a descriptor for physical conditions and as a metaphor for immature or primitive traits. In medical and scientific discourses, it is frequently used to denote conditions occurring in early childhood—most notably infantile scurvy—as well as to differentiate between similar ailments manifesting in adults and children [1][2][3]. At the same time, in more narrative or psychoanalytical contexts, "infantile" is employed to capture qualities of naivety, undeveloped emotion, or regressed behavior, as when characterizing a wail, a smile, or even an underlying mental state [4][5][6]. This multifaceted usage highlights how the word bridges the realms of physical pathology and developmental psychology, adding rich layers of meaning to literary expressions.
- Oliguria is a common symptom of both adult and infantile scurvy.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess - It was soon evident that infantile scurvy occurred to a greater or less degree throughout the civilized world.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess - Barlow, T. : (2) Infantile Scurvy and Its Relation to Rickets, Lancet, London, 1894, II, 1075.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess - In the activities and experiences of infantile sexuality, in its abandoned component-impulses, its childish objects which have been given up.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - The baby caught sight of him, nestled against the old woman, and went off into a prolonged infantile wail.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The constable paused; the least flicker of an innocent self-laudatory smile invested his round face with an infantile expression.
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad
