The place of the unknown in the Medical Humanities

摘要

In the birth and development of the Medical Humanities, literature has played a crucial role, both as an educational resource and as an analytical device. This article proposes an appraisal of this approach by focussing on a model literary situation. Taking the move from Alberto Barrera Tyszka's novel La enfermedad [The illness], the authors identify and explore some of the " places of ignorance" that can emerge in the doctor-patient relationship, as potentially in any form of intersubjective encounter. The analysis aims at highlighting the constructive potential of such spaces of not knowing as a positive element to deal with, rather than a mere limitation of our power of intervention. ? 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.