"This will keep me happy for weeks": care objects, affect and graphic medicine

Area of Science:

• Medical Humanities
• Graphic Medicine Studies
• Sociology of Health and Illness

Background:

• Care relationships traditionally focus on human-human interactions.
• Anthropocentric views limit understanding of broader interdependence.
• Graphic medicine offers unique perspectives on illness experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how non-human entities, specifically objects, function as sources of care in graphic medical narratives.
• To explore the affective entanglements between humans and objects during illness.
• To challenge the human-centric definition of care within medical humanities.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of selected graphic medical narratives, including "Mom's Cancer," "Tangles," and "Special Exits."
• Examination of visual and textual elements within comics to identify object-person relationships.
• Interdisciplinary approach drawing from medical humanities and disability studies.

Main Results:

• Objects are depicted as active participants and sources of comfort and care for individuals experiencing illness.
• Graphic narratives illustrate the profound, often overlooked, emotional connections between patients and their possessions.
• The study identifies "care objects" as significant in the illness experience.

Conclusions:

• Graphic medicine effectively visualizes the complex, non-anthropocentric dimensions of caregiving.
• Interdependence between humans and objects is a crucial, yet often unacknowledged, aspect of illness and healing.
• Recognizing these entanglements enriches our understanding of care beyond human-to-human interactions.