Narrative Medicine Across Countries: Bridging the Gap of Cultural Differences Through Linguistic Methodology, from Universal to Local Cultural Scripts of Illness. The Narrative of an Intercontinental Collaboration on Linguistics

Abstract

Narratives can be collected in various ways: orally, through an open interview (with no fixed questions letting the speakers follow their stream of consciousness) or through written text using either under the form of free narrative without prompts. These can also be collected using semi-structured illness plots (related to the broader meaning of illness, i.e. of disruption from a previous state of wellbeing), with prompts that follow the diachronic unfolding (past, present, future) of illness. Nonetheless, our experience shows that those who narrate eventually develop their narrations by spontaneously following what is identified as the mental illness plot, which unfolds from past to present to future. Using free narratives and a semi-structured illness plot, we found no major differences. This is probably because most of us live with the ‘continuity of the self’, i.e. a consciousness of continuity in time, with memories of the past, here and now of the present time, and the uncertainties of the future (Ramachandran 2012).

Appendix: The New Narrative Medicine Storyline, Written in Minimal Italian/English

La mia storia/my story

• Prima della malattia/before the illness

Ero…

I was…

• Poi mi successe qualcosa// Then something happened to me

Successe così: Ero …………………… quando sentii qualcosa di …………... Mi sentii …………………… Allora, per sapere cosa stesse succedendo, parlai a …………………… Dopo qualche/molto/poco tempo, mi dissero che …………………… Mi sentii …………………… perché …………………… Il mio corpo …………………… Pensai che …………………… Volevo ……………………; perciò ……………………	It happened like this: I was …………………… when I felt something ……………… I felt …………………… Then, to know what was happening, I spoke to …………………… After some/a long/a short time, they said to me that …………………… I felt …………………… because …………………… My body …………………… I thought that …………………… I wanted ……………………; because of this, ……………………
A casa …………………… Quando non ero a casa ……………………. Le persone nella mia vita ………………….	At home …………………… When I was not at home ………………… The people in my life ……………………

• Dopo, le cose/alcune cose non erano più come prima/after that, things/some things were not like before

Nel luogo dove mi avevano detto cosa mi era successo, ………………………………. Con la persona/le persone che mi aveva(no) parlato, mi sentivo …………………… Il medico/L’infermiere/ Lo specialista …………………… Volevo/ Non volevo parlare ad altri specialisti perché …………………… La malattia era ……………………	In the place where they first told me what had happened to me, …………………… With the person/the people who had spoken to me, I felt …………………… The doctor/the nurse/the specialist …………………… I wanted/I didn’t want to speak to other specialists because …………………… The illness was ……………………
In casa, parlavo a …………………… perché …………………… Quando non ero a casa …………………… Le persone nella mia vita ………………… Perciò, mi sentivo ………………………… Le cose erano ……………………	At home, I spoke to …………………… because …………………… When I was not at home ………………… The people in my life …………………… Because of this, I felt …………………… Things were ……………………

• Adesso/now

Adesso, mi sento …………………… La malattia…………………………… Il mio corpo …………………… Posso fare ……………………	Now, I feel …………………… The illness …………………… My body …………………… I can do ……………………
Molte/alcune persone hanno fatto cose per me; hanno …………………… Non hanno ……………………	Many/some people have done things for me; they have …………………… They haven’t ……………………
Adesso, la malattia è …………………… /non è più ……………………	Now, the illness is …………………… /is not …………………… anymore
A casa, posso …………………… /non posso …………………… Quando non sono a casa, posso …………………… /non posso …………………… Adesso, con le persone nella mia vita, ……………………	At home, I can …………………… /I cannot …………………… When I am not at home, I can …………………… /I cannot …………………… Now, with the people in my life, ……………………

• Domani/tomorrow

Quando penso a domani, …………………… Voglio ……………………

When I think about tomorrow, …………………… I want ……………………

• Scrivendo la mia storia/writing my story

Quando ho scritto la mia storia, mi sono sentito ……………………

When I wrote my story, I felt ……………………