Writing at the Margin: Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine

by Arthur Kleinman

Kleinman (anthropology and social medicine, Harvard U.) has revised seven previously published essays and framed them with a new introduction and final chapter. Three explain the principles of what he calls a sociosomatic approach to medicine that considers the body as a mediator between individual and collective experience. The others apply the ideas to his work with the effects of China's Cultural Revolution, involuntary abortion, and other cases. The final chapter urges others to enter medical anthropology, where there is still plenty of elbow room. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Genres: Anthropology, Medicine, Nonfiction, Science, Essays, Theory

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jetty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kleinman es de los investigadores más lúcidos en antropología médica y psiquiatría transcultural. Muy recomendando.

[Jorge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic update of Kleinman's views on medical anthropology. Great to read after "Patients and Healers"

[Eric Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book consists of a slightly hodgepodge yet thought-provoking collection of essays on medical anthropology from a leader of the field. It starts with a fascinating introduction, in which Kleinman discusses his own relationship to medical anthropology, given his personal history and background. The rest of the book is organized into two main sections: "The Culture of Biomedicine" and "Suffering as Social Experience", plus a final chapter in which Kleinman reviews some contemporary medical anthropology books. Despite the focus on local worlds and lived experience, Kleinman's writing can be fairly dense with theory. He clearly believes that social theory is essential, although not in a one-size-fits-all or causally explanatory way. Overall, the ideas are important, and I definitely came away with things to think about.

[Heather G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrific resource, but definitely not "light reading". This book was extremely useful for exploring some ideas related to my grad program, but I must admit to skipping around a bit and skimming sections since Kleinman's writing can be rather dense. His review of the current status of medical anthropology (final chapter), highlights of ethnographic writings and the bibliography he provided at the end are a goldmine if you're interested in this field.