Tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine: expanding the role of film in historical research
Tracing bodily knowledge in medical histories is a challenging task for researchers. Sensory, material and affective details are hard to find in archival sources and hard to put into words. Researchers have found different solutions to this challenge through techniques like re-enactment as well...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Science Museum, London
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Science Museum Group Journal |
| Online Access: | https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/tracing-embodied-knowledge-in-the-history-of-science-and-medicine-expanding-the-role-of-film-in-historical-research/ |
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| author | Paul Craddock Anna Harris |
| author_facet | Paul Craddock Anna Harris |
| author_sort | Paul Craddock |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Tracing bodily knowledge in medical histories is a challenging task for researchers. Sensory, material and affective details are hard to find in archival sources and hard to put into words. Researchers have found different solutions to this challenge through techniques like re-enactment as well as visual methods such as photography and film, many of these being used in museum contexts. In this article we focus on film, as we believe it has more to offer for knowledge production than its current use in studies of history predominantly as an engagement tool in research communication, as a final research ‘output’ or ‘illustration’ for texts and objects. We suggest that film can be an important research method to: a) trace the research process; b) enhance collaboration especially in group projects; c) analytically help researchers to amplify sensorial details, through the possibility to rewind, freeze and focus on embodied action; and d) as a means of sharing research instead of text. Thus, extending from Lucien Taylor’s suggestion that ethnography could be conducted ‘filmically’, we argue that, like anthropologists, historians and museum specialists might also accommodate film as part of a serious research methodology, especially when it comes to respecting the integrity of embodied contributions to the history of science and medicine. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6cf3d2b6aa4a499f9540f399866aebfd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2054-5770 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Science Museum, London |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Science Museum Group Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-6cf3d2b6aa4a499f9540f399866aebfd2025-01-21T11:45:13ZengScience Museum, LondonScience Museum Group Journal2054-57702024-12-012210.15180/242203Tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine: expanding the role of film in historical researchPaul Craddockhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0481-9238Anna Harrishttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5006-2136 Tracing bodily knowledge in medical histories is a challenging task for researchers. Sensory, material and affective details are hard to find in archival sources and hard to put into words. Researchers have found different solutions to this challenge through techniques like re-enactment as well as visual methods such as photography and film, many of these being used in museum contexts. In this article we focus on film, as we believe it has more to offer for knowledge production than its current use in studies of history predominantly as an engagement tool in research communication, as a final research ‘output’ or ‘illustration’ for texts and objects. We suggest that film can be an important research method to: a) trace the research process; b) enhance collaboration especially in group projects; c) analytically help researchers to amplify sensorial details, through the possibility to rewind, freeze and focus on embodied action; and d) as a means of sharing research instead of text. Thus, extending from Lucien Taylor’s suggestion that ethnography could be conducted ‘filmically’, we argue that, like anthropologists, historians and museum specialists might also accommodate film as part of a serious research methodology, especially when it comes to respecting the integrity of embodied contributions to the history of science and medicine. https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/tracing-embodied-knowledge-in-the-history-of-science-and-medicine-expanding-the-role-of-film-in-historical-research/ |
| spellingShingle | Paul Craddock Anna Harris Tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine: expanding the role of film in historical research Science Museum Group Journal |
| title | Tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine: expanding the role of film in historical research |
| title_full | Tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine: expanding the role of film in historical research |
| title_fullStr | Tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine: expanding the role of film in historical research |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine: expanding the role of film in historical research |
| title_short | Tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine: expanding the role of film in historical research |
| title_sort | tracing embodied knowledge in the history of science and medicine expanding the role of film in historical research |
| url | https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/tracing-embodied-knowledge-in-the-history-of-science-and-medicine-expanding-the-role-of-film-in-historical-research/ |
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