A correlative STS: lessons from a Chinese medical practice

Area of Science:

• Science and Technology Studies (STS)
• Medical Anthropology
• History of Chinese Medicine

Background:

• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) often operates on principles distinct from Western analytical frameworks.
• Understanding cross-cultural medical encounters requires nuanced approaches to translation and interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how Science and Technology Studies can benefit from integrating 'other' knowledge systems.
• To analyze a Chinese Medical consultation in Taiwan through the lens of equivocal translation.
• To investigate the 'correlative' nature of Chinese Medicine.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing Eduardo Viveiros de Castro's concept of equivocal translation.
• Symmetrical description of a medical encounter.
• Historical analysis of Chinese Medicine's epistemological framework.

Main Results:

• Chinese Medicine conceptualizes health and illness through 'correlative' patterns, flows, and propensities, rather than solely analytical causality.
• The practitioner hybridizes Chinese Medicine and biomedicine, demonstrating adaptability.
• 'Western' analytical terms create a descriptive equivocation when applied to Chinese medical realities.

Conclusions:

• A post-colonial and 'correlative' approach to STS offers a richer understanding of diverse knowledge systems.
• Describing Chinese Medical consultations using 'correlative' assumptions yields different insights than using 'Western' analytical ones.
• Equivocal translation facilitates a symmetrical analysis of cross-cultural knowledge encounters.