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Illness Narratives: Attention, Empathy, and Storytelling

PWR 2JLC - Spring 2015 - Instructor: Lee, J.
Last Updated: 30-Mar-2015

A guide to resources for PWR 2JLC: Illness Narratives: Attention, Empathy, and Storytelling. This course examines narrative medicine's rhetoric of attention and empathy as it pertains to the relationships between doctors and patients, between caregivers and the afflicted.

Subject Librarians

Phyllis J Kayten
Sr. Reference Specialist; Summer Instruction Coordinator
Cecil H. Green Library
(650) 814-5897
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Around Stanford

Pegasus Physicians at Stanford
Lane Medical Library Biomedical Ethics Portal
Arts, Humanities and Medicine: Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics

Background/Reference Sources on Illness Narrative

Use these sources to help you pick a topic and to provide context to your research based argument.

The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology / edited by George Ritzer.
Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub., c2007.
Green Library » Stacks » HM425 .B53 2007 V.1
             see article titled: Illness Narrative.
Encyclopedia of language & linguistics / Keith Brown, editor-in-chief ; co-ordinating editors, Anne H. Anderson ... [et al.].
2nd ed. Boston : Elsevier, c2006.
Green Library » InfoCenter (non-circulating) » P29 .E48 2006 V.1
            See article titled: Medical Discourse: Illness Narratives. 
Encyclopedia of bioethics / Stephen G. Post, editor in chief.
3rd ed. New York : Macmillan Reference USA : Thomson/Gale, c2004.
Green Library » InfoCenter (non-circulating) » QH332 .E52 2004 V.1
             See article on "Narrative"
Culture, health, and illness / Cecil G. Helman.
4th ed. Oxford ; Boston : Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000.
Green Library » Stacks » GN296 .H45 2000
Neurobiology of disease [electronic resource] / edited by Sid Gilman.
Burlington, Mass. : Elsevier Academic Press, c2007
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)

Selected Searchworks Subject Terms

Here are some "controlled vocabulary" terms for trauma-related topics. Use the Limiters on the left column of the results list : Topics, Call Numbers (for Subject Area), Location (which library - another clue for subject/perspective), Publication Date, etc.

Chronic Diseases - Psychological Aspects
Diseases in Literature
Illness Personal Narratives
Physicians Personal Narratives
Social Medicine
Medical anthropology
Sociology - Medical
Neurobiology - Disease
Right to Die

Suggested Databases

In addition to the Selected Databases try these for more information on the medical narrative.

Remember to use the find it at SFX Stanford links to find full text of articles 

Project Muse. Premium collection.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » NONEAQD4378
Search terms: Illness Narrative, Medical Narrative
JSTOR [electronic resource]
[New York] : JSTOR [New York] : ITHAKA, 1995-
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
MEDLINE [electronic resource].
[S.l.] : National Library of Medicine
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
I find the EBSCO Host version the easiest to use
The Philosopher's index.
Cumulative ed. Bowling Green, Ohio, Philosophy Documentation Center, Bowling Green University.
SAL3 (off-campus storage) » Stacks » Z7127 .P4 V.39 NO.4 2005

Electronic Journals

You can opt to search in a particular journal rather than a database. Here are some interesting journals for particular perspectives on illness.

Social theory & health [electronic resource].
[Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hants] : Palgrave Macmillan c2003-
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Medical anthropology quarterly.
Washington, D.C. : Society for Medical Anthropology, c1983-
SAL3 (off-campus storage) » Stacks » GN296 .M418 N.S.V.22:NO.2-4 2008

Searchworks and many other databases you will use allow you to get a simple citation by using a "CiteThis" feature or gather more information by using a Send to/Export feature to send records to bibliographic management tools such as Refworks or EndNote.  You can also use resources such as Zotero or Mendeley to gather information including citations.  For more on these, see the guide to Bibliography Management.

Other Stanford Resources

Pegasus Physicians at Stanford
The group currently has some forty members from all branches of medicine participating in monthly meetings, workshops and annual readings. Their  members write poetry, fiction, fictionalized memoirs, op-ed pieces and educational texts for the lay public with the intent to broaden public understanding of the science and art of medicine. Other goals of the group are: to bring the insights of humanistic arts to the practice of medicine; to inform creative writing by the practice of medicine; to educate medical students and young physicians in the humanistic dimensions of medical practice; and to celebrate the lives of our patients through our writing.
Arts, Humanities and Medicine: Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics