ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapter of this book. The book argues that the production of knowledge, of facts, and the exercise of power are inextricably connected to discourse, particularly to press discourse which in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the first mass-medium to disseminate news, knowledge, information and opinions to society. It draws on news texts as a way of understanding infanticide and the young mothers who committed this desperate act. Understanding the politics of representation is crucial to an understanding of the power of any cultural text. The book exposes the power of press discourse in the formation of the reality that is the act of infanticide and the infanticidal woman between 1822 and 1922. It shows how the discursive power of the press is contained within a deeply paternalistic industry that works to shut out female discourse and reinforces patriarchal ideologies.
