Histoire des publications médicales

Medical knowledge and practice in print

Call for papers

The African Studies Association of the UK (ASAUK) biennial conference will be held at the University of Cambridge (Robinson College) from Wednesday 7 September 2016 to 15.30 on Friday 9 September 2016.

Please find below the Call for Papers for the panel 'Medical knowledge and practice in print: historical and contemporary perspectives on medical publications'. The panel is part of the 'Newspapers, periodicals and print cultures in Africa' stream.

Panel convenor: Yolana Pringle (University of Cambridge)

Panel discussant: Shane Doyle (University of Leeds)

Panel description: From the mid-nineteenth century, a growing number of medical practitioners recorded their clinical experiences, research, and opinions in print. This literature, which includes medical missionary publications, newspaper 'self help' columns, and African professional medical journals, forms a key body of sources for scholars of medicine and health--in some cases representing the only surviving type of source material. This panel considers medical publications both for what they can reveal about medical knowledge and practice, and as a genre in itself. Bringing together scholars from different disciplines, it will explore such themes as medical hegemony, the professionalisation of medicine, and the construction of medical and historical knowledge. How have different types of practitioners used print media to further their claims to authority? What role have medical publications played in the transnational circulation of medical knowledge? How revealing are medical publications of the clinical encounter? What role has print media played in 'educating' lay audiences? What can medical publications reveal about the divide between oral and written medical traditions? And how are new forms of media shaping Africa's therapeutic landscape?

Submission details: Please submit a 250-word abstract and brief biography to Yolana Pringle (yolana.pringle@gmail.com) by 13 March 2016. Alternatively, submit the abstract directly via the conference website by the deadline of 2 April 2016. Please direct any enquiries to the panel convenor, Yolana Pringle (yolana.pringle@gmail.com).