Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Reply to emmakik,
Hi! I totally agree with you that there is a need for more perspectives from people of color in all genres but especially in the medical narrative sphere. I like that you acknowledge that there are different forms of racism and that everyone’s experience with racism is different. I think that Tweedy takes a unique approach when discussing race and discrimination in his book. He focuses on the social determinants of health that unequally affect people of color. His approach to race in the medical world both as a patient and practitioner reveals that there is much to be improved upon in our health care systems.
Priscilla Wald takes a unique approach to analyze outbreaks and infections in the modern world. In the introduction of her book Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative, Wald defines the term outbreak narrative as the story of disease outbreaks as chronicled by mainstream media and scientific publications. She describes the outbreak narrative as predictable “following a formulaic plot that begins with the identification of an emerging infection, includes a discussion of global networks throughout which it travels, and chronicles the epidemiological work that ends with its containment” (2). Wald uses the SARS outbreak of 2003 as a case study to illustrate the outbreak narrative in reality. As she describes SARS and how it unfolds as an outbreak narrative I could not ignore the striking similarities to the current coronavirus outbreak. Wald’s explanation of the term “medicalized nativism” was the most impressionable for me. She defines medicalized nativism as a social attitude that “implies the almost superstitious belief that national borders can afford protection against communicable diseases” (8). During this current outbreak, I have definitely seen a surge in these kinds of social attitudes as well as the kind of xenophobic rhetoric that is often spearheaded by current political powers. I hope that instead of playing the “blame game” we as a society can instead take this as an opportunity to reevaluate our relationships with community organizations, improve health care infrastructure, and prioritize social responsibility.
The Great Plague: A Summon to Thankfulness
Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year is an account of life during The Great Plague in 1665 London. Defoe writes about the rumors of the plague and the secrecy surrounding them. The rumors begin to spiral around town but are finally cemented by the weekly bill of mortality. Throughout this excerpt, the bill of mortality serves to update citizens about the status of the city. As the infection begins to take more lives, the origin of the disease becomes inconsistent. Some believe that wizardry had a part citing a comet as the source of this belief. Others insisted that the events were “warnings of God’s judgments.” Even still, some trusted that the source of misery was not supernatural but that of natural causes. As deaths increased from hundreds to thousands, all seemed to agree that the cause of the plague was in fact by God’s judgments and the only solution was to confess your sins. As “consciences were awakened” and the confessions persisted, “the merciful disposition of God” prevailed. Deaths plummeted and citizens rejoiced in the omnipotent power of God. Defoe’s writing serves to describe his devotion to a higher power during times of death and sadness.
