Millard, C.J. orcid.org/0000-0001-5517-492X (2020) Using personal experience in the academic medical humanities: a genealogy. Social Theory and Health, 18. pp. 184-198. ISSN 1477-8211
Abstract
The inclusion of personal experience in academic work, especially in the medical humanities, has increased markedly in the recent past. This article traces the roots of this development, arguing that it is not a simply off-shoot of ‘experts by experience’ in mental health, but has its own specific set of precursors and enabling conditions. Three of these are explored in detail, under the headings of ‘psychoanalysis’, ‘social history’ and ‘anthropology’. The continuing influence of psychoanalysis privileges the public expression of personal experience as a vital tool and site for self-development. Social history (from the 1960s onwards) takes ‘experience’ as its privileged object in understanding the past. The tools of twentieth-century anthropology animate much social constructionist and cultural history. This anthropology is based upon the ‘lived experience’ of the anthropologists, who immerse themselves into the life-world of the ‘natives’. The article concludes by cautioning against the unthinking or naïve use of experience as a sure foundation for work in the medical humanities, drawing upon the theoretical insights of Joan Scott, Judith Butler and Sarah Shortall.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Editors: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of History (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number WELLCOME TRUST (THE) 101454/A/13/Z Wellcome Trust 101454/Z/13/Z |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 16 Oct 2017 10:53 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jun 2020 11:49 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-019-00089-x |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Palgrave Macmillan |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1057/s41285-019-00089-x |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:122554 |
Download
Filename: Millard2019_Article_UsingPersonalExperienceInTheAc.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 4.0