Materialities of Medical Culture In/Between Europe and East Asia
Asian Studies
Modern and Contemporary History
Final Report Abstract
The joint research project brought together historians and sociologists of medicine in Germany and Taiwan, whose common interest is the history of materialities, material culture and the interlacing of material and epistemic cultures with a particular focus on health care. In the course of the project, two sub-groups worked on topics that linked the histories of East Asia and Europe, and continued discussion in the network. “Cultural History of Drugs” investigated the construction and deconstruction of medical culture, paying close attention to material culture. It examined the theoretical principles and methods for the use of drugs and medical instruments, and considered the culturally conceived qualities of drug ingredients, all to interpret the construction and making of medicaments. “Body & Care” examined the cultural norms, social needs, personnel, material instruments, and technologies for the care of the body. Areas included personal and public hygiene, life nurturance (yangsheng), soma-psychology, and elderly and disability care. The case studies of both groups depended on the cooperation of German and Taiwanese colleagues on site. The trajectories of substances, medicinal material, knowledge and practices between East Asia and Europe can be traced in archival and published sources written in German, French, English, Chinese, and Japanese. The best way to understand the flow of information (also of non-information), matters and practical knowledge, was to approach the topic in mixed teams. In addition, the collaborative research project allowed for including German-language archival sources located in Taiwan. The group organised several workshops and panels at international conferences. In this way, the group was able to exchange ideas with colleagues from other countries whose research topics are related to the group's research focus. The results are being published in single articles, special issues and a monography.
Publications
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„Medical Missions at the Fringes of Empire“, Journal of the Social History of Medicine and Health, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 79-102.
Merdes, Dominik
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Covid-19 pandisziplinär und international. Medizin, Kultur, Gesellschaft. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Alexander Kraemer & Michael Medzech (Eds.)
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Die zerstreute Genese der Antimonialien (Post)koloniale Verwicklungen der ‚vernachlässigten Tropenkrankheiten‘ und ihrer Therapie am Beispiel der Kala-Azar und der Schistosomiasis. FZG – Freiburger Zeitschrift für GeschlechterStudien, 29(1), 61-79.
Merdes, Dominik
