The medical carnivalesque : folklore among physicians / Lisa Gabbert and Antonio Salud II MA.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gabbert, Lisa, author.

Salud II MA, Antonio, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wit and humor in medicine.

Medicine--Practice.

Medicine.

Medicine--Folklore.

Social medicine.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (228 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2024]

Summary:

""This is admirable work, arguing that the culture of contemporary formal medicine addresses the painful and transgressive aspect of the work by, among other things, sharing an esoteric body of humorous expressive performance that in particular makes striking use of Bakhtin's model of carnivalesque inversions of the form. The author presents convincing primary evidence in her ethnographic work, and has a thorough grasp of the academic literature in folk studies and anthropology, the sociology of medicine, and the literary/historical sources that allow for the evolution of medical humor throughout centuries of change in medical practice." - Erika Brady, author of Healing Logics: Culture and Medicine in Modern Health Belief Systems The Medical Carnivalesque studies medical humor among physicians. Because of issues of life, death, suffering, and the mortal body, the medical profession is a fertile arena for humor that serves as a way to address such topics. Suggesting that laughter and suffering connect to form part of a broader phenomenon called the medical carnivalesque, author Lisa Gabbert explores humor as a fundamental way to cope with core philosophical and existential issues, which physicians regularly engage with. She covers topics including the institutionalized nature of physician suffering, death-related humor, humor about patient bodies, and humor about medical specialties. Suffering is an essential component to life, and humor in medicine emerges because of extraordinarily difficult work environments that induce suffering of the physicians themselves"-- Provided by publisher.

"Because of issues of life, death, suffering, and the mortal body, the medical profession is a fertile arena for humor that serves to address these topics. The Medical Carnivalesque studies such medical humor among physicians.Suggesting that laughter and suffering connect to form part of a broader phenomenon called the medical carnivalesque, author Lisa Gabbert explores humor as a fundamental way of coping with core philosophical and existential issues that physicians regularly engage with. Featuring topics such as the institutionalized nature of physician suffering, death-related humor, humor about patient bodies, and humor about medical specialties, this ethnography of the evolution of medical humor shows us how the culture of contemporary medicine addresses the painful and transgressive aspects of the work.The Medical Carnivalesque shows us that suffering is an essential component of life, and humor in medicine emerges because of extraordinarily difficult work environments that induce suffering of the physicians themselves"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. "Like Drinking from a Firehose": The Organization of Medical Education, Training, and Work

2. "Living the Dream": Suffering, Moral Injury, and Trauma in Medical Practice

3. Death, Life, and Other Absurdities

4. Bodies of Humor: The Medicalized and the Grotesque

5. "I Need to Fix It": Spurious and Expert Knowledge

Conclusion: Suffering and the Carnivalesque

References

Index

About the Author.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780253070265

0253070260

9780253070258

0253070252

OCLC:

1436829087