{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T18:12:54Z","timestamp":1776190374904,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"BMJ","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Med Humanities"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    A lyric essay by two writers and academics who are victim survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) perpetrated by their biological fathers. Taking a survivor-centred approach, and referring to their own lived experience, Clare Best and Patricia Debney interrogate representations of, and allusions to, CSA in the 2025 opera\n                    <jats:italic>Festen*<\/jats:italic>\n                    in particular, and in the arts more generally, focusing on themes such as denial, use of language and the aftermath of trauma.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    *The opera\n                    <jats:italic>Festen<\/jats:italic>\n                    (composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, librettist Lee Hall) was first staged at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, in February 2025. Turnage and Hall based their opera on the 1998 Dogme 95 film with the same title, directed by Thomas Vinterberg. In\n                    <jats:italic>Festen,<\/jats:italic>\n                    revelations of CSA are made by Christian and Helena at their father Helge Klingefeldt\u2019s sixtieth birthday party. The drama revolves around the reactions and interactions of party guests, hotel staff and various members of the family including the perpetrator Helge and his wife Else (mother to his children).\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/medhum-2025-013465","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T17:20:33Z","timestamp":1776187233000},"page":"medhum-2025-013465","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Twenty-five soundings about child sexual abuse and the arts: considering the opera\n                    <i>Festen<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1136","author":[{"given":"Clare","family":"Best","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"FASS, The Open University, Milton Keynes, England, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Patricia","family":"Debney","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291718003823"},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.2","unstructured":"Britten B . 1954. The Turn of the Screw. Opera."},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.3","unstructured":"Cordova R . 2014. \u2018Maya Angelou\u2019s \u2018Arizona Republic\u2019 Interview\u2019. In The Republic. https:\/\/eu.azcentral.com\/story\/entertainment\/books\/2014\/05\/28\/maya-angelou-arizona-republic-interview\/9682587\/."},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.4","unstructured":"Darling L . 1981. \u2018Maya Angelou, A Woman\u2019s Heart: Inside the Raging Storm, Looking Out\u2019. The Washington Post. https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/arts-and-entertainment\/wp\/1981\/10\/13\/the-moment-of-existential-terror-that-helped-maya-angelou-find-her-way\/."},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.5","unstructured":"Karsna K. , and Bromley P. . 2024. \u2018Child Sexual Abuse in 2022\/23: Trends in Official Data\u2019. Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse. https:\/\/www.csacentre.org.uk\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Trends-in-Offical-Data-2022-23-FINAL.pdf."},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.6","unstructured":"Karsna K. , Liz K . 2021. \u2018The Scale and Nature of Child Sexual Abuse: Review of Evidence\u2019. Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse. https:\/\/www.csacentre.org.uk\/app\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Scale-and-nature-review-of-evidence-2021.pdf."},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.7","unstructured":"L\u00e4ckberg C , director. The Glass Dome . TV series, 2025."},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.8","unstructured":"Nabokov V . 1955. Lolita. Penguin Classics."},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.9","unstructured":"NSPCC . 2025. \u2018Statistics Briefing: Child Sexual Abuse\u2019. Available from: https:\/\/learning.nspcc.org.uk\/media\/snddiv5e\/statistics-briefing-csa-child-sexual-abuse-2025.pdf"},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.10","unstructured":"Police UK . 2025. \u2018What Are Rape and Sexual Assault?\u2019 Available from: https:\/\/www.police.uk\/ro\/report\/rsa\/alpha-v1\/advice\/rape-sexual-assault-and-other-sexual-offences\/what-are-rape-sexual-assault\/"},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.11","unstructured":"Scott, Sara, DMSS Research . 2023. \u2018Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse\u2019. Key Messages from Research on Intra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse. Available from: https:\/\/www.csacentre.org.uk\/app\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Key-messages-from-research-on-intra-familial-child-sexual-abuse-2nd-edition.pdf"},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.12","unstructured":"The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) . 2023. \u2018Children in the Care of the Nottinghamshire Council\u2019s Investigation Report\u2019. https:\/\/www.iicsa.org.uk\/reports-recommendations\/publications\/investigation\/nottinghamshire-councils\/part-f-cross-cutting-themes\/f1-barriers-disclosure.html#:~:text=Research%20indicates%20that%20up%20to,the%20time%20of%20the%20abuse."},{"key":"2026041410202296000_medhum-2025-013465v1.13","unstructured":"Turnage M . 2025. Festen. Opera."}],"container-title":["Medical Humanities"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/medhum-2025-013465","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T17:20:37Z","timestamp":1776187237000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/mh.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/medhum-2025-013465"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]]},"references-count":13,"alternative-id":["10.1136\/medhum-2025-013465"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/medhum-2025-013465","relation":{},"ISSN":["1468-215X","1473-4265"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1468-215X","type":"print"},{"value":"1473-4265","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]]}}}