This interdisciplinary project studies the representation, meaning and value of recovery from illness in culture, medicine and society. It explores the relationship between recovery and narrative from a critical perspective that interrogates narrative's claim to cure. It argues that recovery functions as an organisational tool of medical and social management that has the power to grant or restrict access to biomedical and economic resources and services, and to systems of care, relationships and freedoms. The data includes fiction and non-fiction literature, film, mass media and social media written in English, French and Finnish languages. The site of research is the University of Turku. The project is linked to the SELMA Centre and the Research Centre for Culture and Health. Read more about illness recovery in art and literature here: https://medicalhealthhumanities.com/2021/01/25/life-after-covid-19-entanglements-of-illness-and-recovery/

2023

2027