The Illness Autobiography
Over the last quarter century the illness biography or “pathography,” as some prefer to call it, has emerged as a popular literary form as well as a primary data source for medical anthropologists. Through vivid, personal stories seriously ill patients have attempted to educate medical professionals and the general public about the impact of disease on work, family life, identity, and self-image as well as to recount their experiences with impersonal, bureaucratic, medical institutions. While such narratives have been written by people from various walks of life, and deal with a variety of different medical conditions, the stories share many common narrative elements: mystery (disease is unexpected or difficult to diagnose), betrayal by one’s ownbody, conflict with medical professionals or medical bureaucracies, the failure of medical science to heal, the need for self-reliance, and, generally, but not always, a return to good health. An early and successful...
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Loewe, R. (2004). IIlness Narratives. In: Ember, C.R., Ember, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29905-X_6
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