The Medical Case Narrative in Pre-Modern Europe and China: Comparative History of an Epistemic Genre

Pomata, Gianna

doi:10.5040/9781350006782.0009

Cited by 6 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…But this need not be the case. The kinds of analysis which some historians of science already make concerning the narrative, genre and literary conventions which have mattered for science throughout time (Pomata 2018;Buckland 2013;Beer 1983;Dear 1991) could be good starting points for such an approach. Aspects of these accounts will be illuminating for the history of science and historiography alike.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronicle, Genealogy and Narrative: Understanding Synthetic Biology in the Image of Historiography

Berry

2022

Narrative Science

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Where some chapters in this volume find narrative in the phenomena addressed by scientists, or in their reporting and representational practices, or in their argumentation and reasoning, this chapter finds narrative at the level of field and subfield formation. It does so through the history of historiography and philosophy of history, particularly the work of scholars who have differentiated the many forms of historical knowledge. Focusing on just threethe chronicle, the genealogy and the narrativethe chapter explains how these means for making historical knowledge might be made to cover knowledgemaking in the sciences. The first half of the chapter develops this analytical approach, while the second applies it to the case of synthetic biology. By taking narrative's epistemic significances more seriously we arrive at a new way to explain scientific change over time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronicle, Genealogy and Narrative: Understanding Synthetic Biology in the Image of Historiography

Berry

2022

Narrative Science

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“…She further defines the case as "a tool for the cognitive purpose of individualization" that is different from that of Forrester. 17 Pomata's concept of "epistemic genre," to some extent, enlightens Liu Yan (刘焱)'s reexamination of Sun Simiao (孙思邈)'s medical works from the perspective of medical genres. Through the analysis of Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang (《备急千金药方》 Important Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces for Emergency) written by Sun Simiao in the 7th century, Liu argues that Sun's Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang could be considered as the first formula book in Chinese history with medical cases, which, to some extent, combined two medical genres: fang shu (formula books) and yi an (medical cases).…”

Section: Scholarship On Epistemic Medical Genres In Chinese Medical H...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, as a recognized medical genre, fang existed in Chinese medical traditions from antiquity to the modern period. 17 By contrast, case narrative, as one of the oldest surviving medical records in China, had many different terms used to differentiate it from other narrative forms but was not considered as a full-fledged medical genre until the 16th century. 18 Scholarship on medical case histories showed the potential to consider the medical genre as a research object.…”

Section: Scholarship On Epistemic Medical Genres In Chinese Medical H...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…She also published a comparative study of medical case narratives in premodern Europe and China. 17 In this study, Pomata examines both similarities and differences of premodern European and Chinese medical case narratives, and discusses the possible exchange of cases between East and West in late Imperial China. If Thinking with Cases emphasizes that China created and followed a different scientific tradition from Europe through the exploration of history of the case in Chinese medicine, law, religion, and philosophy, Pomata's chapter focuses on more similarities than differences.…”

Section: Scholarship On Epistemic Medical Genres In Chinese Medical H...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…She further defines the case as “a tool for the cognitive purpose of individualization” that is different from that of Forrester. 17…”

Section: Scholarship On Epistemic Medical Genres In Chinese Medical H...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Publishing and Medicine: A Potentially Integrated Field?

Fan

2023

Chinese Medicine and Culture

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This article focuses on the intersection of English-language scholarship between the history of publishing and the history of medicine in Imperial China. As an important part of cultural and social history, both topics have attracted attention from a number of historians. This article contains three sections. The first section introduces the evolution of Chinese book and publishing history in recent years and examines what book historians have done in relation to traditional Chinese medicine. The second section explores how medical historians have considered the role of printing in the history of Chinese medicine and the ways in which medical publications were used as primary sources or subjects of research. The third section explores scholarship on medical epistemic genres, a subfield of medical history, in Chinese medicine, specifically focusing on medical case histories and recipes from the comparative and cross-cultural perspectives. Finally, the conclusion explores potential future directions from the integration of Chinese publishing history and medical history.

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Epistemic Genres as a Conceptual Tool in the History of Chinese Medicine

Hanson¹

2022

Chinese Medicine and Culture

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This article summarizes the collaboration between two historians of medicine on Sino-European medical exchanges. Gianna Pomata researches the history of medicine in early modern Europe and Marta Hanson researches the history of medicine in early modern China. The following covers the concept of epistemic genres that Pomata first developed out of her research on the history of the genres historia, observationes, recipes, medical cases, and the commentary in Europe. She connected these genres variously to empiricism, erudition, scientific observation, norm-making, and recording practice. The paper then evaluates how Pomata and Hanson used epistemic genres as a method for doing cross-cultural research on 17th–18th-century Sino-European medical exchanges. Pomata then wrote a comparative history of the medical case in Europe and China. The article concludes with how Hanson applied the distinction of epistemic genres to analyze the history of Chinese medicine from a new perspective.

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The Medical Case Narrative in Pre-Modern Europe and China: Comparative History of an Epistemic Genre

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Chronicle, Genealogy and Narrative: Understanding Synthetic Biology in the Image of Historiography

Chronicle, Genealogy and Narrative: Understanding Synthetic Biology in the Image of Historiography

Publishing and Medicine: A Potentially Integrated Field?

Epistemic Genres as a Conceptual Tool in the History of Chinese Medicine

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