The role of language in medicine and in doctor-patient communication from narrative medicine's point of view

Adrianna Beczek

Uniwersytet Jagiellonski / Jagiellonian University

adrianna.beczek@uj.edu.pl

Despite the extensive literature on communication in medicine, the role of language in this area is still discussed mainly indirectly. The new field of narrative medicine that emerged in the 1990s was an attempt to integrate the patient's perspective into treatment; integration is understood as a way to improve the quality of therapy. However, even in this field, which, as even the name implies, is based on narrative, no specific consideration was given to how language works in medicine. In my contribution I discuss several aspects of perception and the use of language in medicine, both historically and today. I also make an attempt to demonstrate that the narrative medicine paradigm is a successful attempt to exploit the potential of language in medicine.