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Illness Narratives:
A Brief History
Trisha Paul
Unless otherwise noted, this material is made available
under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
What are illness
narratives?
“Expressions about or around the experience of being ill”
Can take many forms
Art
Film
Dance
Literature
Can be told from a variety of different perspectives
Health professionals
Loved ones
Those with illness
Disease vs. Illness
Distinction coined by sociologist Arthur Kleinman
(1988) in Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and
the Human Condition
Disease
Pathological and biological condition
Primary concern of medicine
Rooted in the physical body
Illness
“Innately human experience of symptoms and
suffering” (1)
Social and cultural effects of living with disease
Personal and subjective experience of illness
Where did they come
from?
Illness narratives surfaced in the 1970s
Factors that contributed to increased illness
narratives
Evolution of medicine
Evolution of narrative
Evolution of Medicine
Technology advances
Progression of scientific research
Growing emphasis on treating the ‘disease’ in
medicine
Bodily disorder privileged
Increased medicalization of death
Death moves from the comfort of one’s home to
the hospital setting
Evolution of Narrative
Until 1950s, autobiography as accurate and
undisputable account of the cohesive self
1960s: self as socially and culturally constructed,
begins to disrupt traditional autobiographical
representations
1970s: autobiography increasingly focuses on
the self in discord
Increasingly embraced by women’s studies,
ethnic studies, African American studies,
Holocaust studies
Method of giving voice to the experiences of
marginalized populations
Emergence of
Pathographies
Literary scholar Anne Hunsaker Hawkins (1999)
in Reconstructing Illness: Studies in
Pathographies
“autobiographical or biographical narrative about
an experience of illness” (229)
Narratives arose in response to the increased
medicalization of illness
Patient empowerment through expression
Illness Narratives Today
How do you think the genre may have evolved
over the years?
What are some of the current controversies
surrounding illness narratives today?
Keeping in mind Frank’s illness narrative
categories, how do you think the kinds of
narratives we tell might have changed, if at all?
Works Cited
Charon, Rita. Narrative Medicine: Honoring the
Stories of Illness. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006.
Hawkins, Anne Hunsaker. Reconstructing Illness:
Studies in Pathography. West Lafayette, IN:
Purdue UP, 1993.
Kleinman, Arthur. The Illness Narratives:
Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition.
New York: Basic, 1988. Print.

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A brief history of "Illness narratives"

  • 1. Illness Narratives: A Brief History Trisha Paul Unless otherwise noted, this material is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
  • 2. What are illness narratives? “Expressions about or around the experience of being ill” Can take many forms Art Film Dance Literature Can be told from a variety of different perspectives Health professionals Loved ones Those with illness
  • 3. Disease vs. Illness Distinction coined by sociologist Arthur Kleinman (1988) in Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition Disease Pathological and biological condition Primary concern of medicine Rooted in the physical body Illness “Innately human experience of symptoms and suffering” (1) Social and cultural effects of living with disease Personal and subjective experience of illness
  • 4. Where did they come from? Illness narratives surfaced in the 1970s Factors that contributed to increased illness narratives Evolution of medicine Evolution of narrative
  • 5. Evolution of Medicine Technology advances Progression of scientific research Growing emphasis on treating the ‘disease’ in medicine Bodily disorder privileged Increased medicalization of death Death moves from the comfort of one’s home to the hospital setting
  • 6. Evolution of Narrative Until 1950s, autobiography as accurate and undisputable account of the cohesive self 1960s: self as socially and culturally constructed, begins to disrupt traditional autobiographical representations 1970s: autobiography increasingly focuses on the self in discord Increasingly embraced by women’s studies, ethnic studies, African American studies, Holocaust studies Method of giving voice to the experiences of marginalized populations
  • 7. Emergence of Pathographies Literary scholar Anne Hunsaker Hawkins (1999) in Reconstructing Illness: Studies in Pathographies “autobiographical or biographical narrative about an experience of illness” (229) Narratives arose in response to the increased medicalization of illness Patient empowerment through expression
  • 8. Illness Narratives Today How do you think the genre may have evolved over the years? What are some of the current controversies surrounding illness narratives today? Keeping in mind Frank’s illness narrative categories, how do you think the kinds of narratives we tell might have changed, if at all?
  • 9. Works Cited Charon, Rita. Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Hawkins, Anne Hunsaker. Reconstructing Illness: Studies in Pathography. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue UP, 1993. Kleinman, Arthur. The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition. New York: Basic, 1988. Print.

Editor's Notes

  1. Kleinman pgs 1-2
  2. Rita Charon pg 72
  3. Hawkins