In this article, where the reader also becomes a viewer, gains access to a deeper understanding of sensory and embodied forms of knowledge in the medical field, while engaging with innovative ways of transmitting knowledge within the history of science and medicine.
See moreAs the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words; but, if it's a video, the expressive potential multiplies even further.
That was the challenge faced by researchers Paul Craddock and Anna Harris, along with filmmaker Carl Murphy Barton, when attempting to convey sensory, material, and affective dimensions that are difficult to capture through written language.
Through this article and their short film, they adopt an interdisciplinary perspective that combines audiovisual media, ethnography, medicine, and history. Their goal is to bring the reader—who in this case also becomes a viewer—closer to a deeper understanding of bodily knowledge in the medical field. To achieve this, they employ an innovative approach based on visual communication as a research methodology, allowing them to represent aspects that would otherwise be difficult to explain.
The article emphasizes the relevance of film not only as an alternative medium for disseminating the study but also as a tool for tracing the research process. It also highlights its value as a collaborative space—especially in the sensory realm—as an analytical resource, and as a complementary format for the production and transmission of knowledge.
In this sense, the authors question the limitations of the literary tradition in the history of science, while simultaneously blurring the boundaries between tacit and formal knowledge.
