Autopatografia jako przestrzeń „spotkania troski”. O realizacji postulatów medycyny narracyjnej w Mięchu Anety Żukowskiej

Abstract

This article presents autopathography as a genre in which patients can reclaim their voices to articulate their experiences of the medical system, drawing on Arthur Frank’s theory in The Wounded Storyteller. Illness narratives can be understood not only as means of expressing a largely negative experience by way of monologue, but also as platforms for dialogue between patients and their caregivers. Such encounters, albeit seemingly impossible under the conditions of contemporary medical system, have been postulated, among others, by Rita Charon, the founder of narrative medicine. In the text, autobiographical works of Anatole Broyard and Aneta Żukowska are given as examples of patients expressing the need for a sustained, mutual relationship between doctors and their patients. As such, autopathographies can play their part in bringing to life the ideals of narrative medicine, as well as of what S. L. Jain called “elegiaic politics”.

Keywords

• narrative medicine
• medical humanities
• medical discourse
• illness narratives
• life writing
• autopathography