Internet cures : the social lives of digital miracles / Dang Nguyen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nguyễn, Đăng, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Alternative medicine--Computer network resources--Social aspects.

Alternative medicine.

Medicine--Computer network resources--Social aspects.

Medicine.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 167 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Bristol : Bristol University Press, 2025.

Summary:

This book explores the intersection of miracle cures and technology with a unique methodology. Unravelling the intricate connections between social, technological, biomedical and non-biomedical spheres, it makes a significant contribution to debates on technology and health.

Contents:

Front Cover

Internet Cures: The Social Lives of Digital Miracles

Copyright Page

Dedication

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables

About the Author

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction: Of Internet Cures and Digital Miracles

A theoretical interlude

Previews

Part I Contextualizing Internet Cures and Digital Miracles

Prologue: Miracles before the digital

2 Miracle Cures in Context: Vietnam as Research Site

The emergence of digital Vietnam

Material entanglements: a short history of medical traditions in Vietnam

Miracle cures as vernacular tradition

Modern developments: institutionalization, internationalization, and regulation

Miracle cures go digital: networks, inscriptions, and remediation

Miracle cures as inscription networks

Remedy remediation: the hypermediacy of digital cures

3 Miracle Cures as Non-​Biomedical Practices

The birth of biomedicine and the marginalization of non-​biomedical modalities

Knowledge production as problematic networks

Contested terminologies on non-​biomedical modalities: a literature review

Finding a way forward: a co-​word analysis of literature

Semantic topography of literature

Reading of knowledge clusters

Cluster 1: Alternative medicine

Cluster 2: Unclassified drug

Cluster 3: Herbal medicine

Cluster 4: Traditional medicine

A way forward: non-​biomedical modalities and scholarly knowledge about them

Notes on limitations of analysis

Miracle cures as non-​biomedical modalities

Part II Written Networks of Digital Miracles

Prologue: Writings on a wall

4 Crowd Digitization of Miracle Cures and the Digitality of Writing

The rise of the writing society and the digitality of writing

Inscribing miracle cures: ideographic beginnings

Romanization as tokenization: the digitality of writing

From paper to electromagnetic storage: the materiality of writing

Crowd digitization of miracle cures: a mini media archaeology of written miracles

A note on methods

5 Mapping Transnational Networks of Written Miracles

Miracle cures as online networks

Methods

Methodological choices and motivation

Site selection strategy

Data collection and network generation

Results

Network analysis

Text analysis and topic modelling

Discussion

Conclusion

Part III Digital Miracles as Digital Play

Prologue: Embodying the digital

6 If It's Worth Doing, It's Worth Doing Live: Livestreaming Miracles

The apparent paradox of Facebook Live

Liveness and time: a tale of co-​dependency

The case of di ệ n ch ẩ n : downtime, liveness, and the body

The dur e e of downtime

The body cannot wait: the oscillation between instantaneity and simultaneity in liveness

Downtime, recalibrated: enactments of liveness and their effects

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 11 Apr 2025).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-5292-3519-7

1-5292-3517-0

1-5292-3518-9

OCLC:

1474240542