Towards a Theory of Graphic Medicine

Abstract

As a constructive derivative of several altruistic movements, such as narrative medicine, medical humanities and health humanities, graphic medicine is a nonconformist ideological inverse to the absolutism of medical knowledge. Exposing the limitations of biomedicine, which prioritises the voice of the physician, graphic medicine provides an inclusive approach towards medical conditions through its perspectival richness and experiential realities. Formulated as a means to express the voice of the marginalised community of sufferers, graphic medicine expedites creative and forceful articulation of the narratives of patients and caregivers, which were hitherto discarded as inauthentic by the existing medical system. As a wholesome methodology that equally values the subjective experiences of patients, physicians and caregivers, graphic medicine provides numerous ways of representing affective truths about illness conditions. Thus, by creating a mutually beneficial field of study for both biomedicine and humanities by yoking together medicine and comics, graphic medicine fosters an empathetic attitude towards human conditions. The present chapter traces the evolution of graphic medicine from the historical nexus of comics and medicine, through narrative medicine, to health humanities, and introduces graphic medicine as a cultural alternative to the existing paradigms of medical knowledge. Additionally, this chapter also aims to rationalise the unique aspects and cultural roles of graphic medicine?pedagogical, therapeutic, and community formational.