A Presentation by Jill Danker

Accident: A Day’s News

Accident

• Literary work by Christa Wolf– East German author

• Depicts in “real-time” a woman trying to understand aspects of health and medicine– Surgery – Radiation Poisoning– Life & Death itself

“Patient”

“Symptoms”

• Medicine viewed as abstract and concrete in novella

• Concrete: Narrator’s brother’s surgery

• Abstract: Radiation poisoning; spread of radiation

• Overarching: finite nature of life itself

Symptom 1: Concrete Medicine

• Surgical procedures depicted within the work– Large, scientific words often used– Very specific and meticulous wording– Vivid imagery

Examples

• “a metallic instrument…skirting your cerebral membrane, presumably pushing aside the brain matter” (10)

• “peeling out from its healthy environment the tumor which was nestled very, very snugly up against the pituitary gland—root and branch, indeed down to the last cell” (25)

Symptom 2: Abstract Medicine

• Personified in “patient” as radiation poisoning/radiation spread– Purposefully vague – Imprecise– Details withheld

Examples

• Radiation often referred to as “invisible cloud” (9)

• “how quickly does radioactivity spread, at best and worst?” (9)

• “a new name for danger” (15)

Radiation

• “energy that comes from a source and travels through space and may be able to penetrate various materials” (Health Physics Society)– Emission of excess energy of

radioactive atoms (unstable)• Most dangerous form: Gamma

radiation

Radiation Exposure• Single, high-level exposure to radiation

may cause health problems– Increases occurrence of certain diseases

• Cancer, some genetic diseases• Prolonged exposure at low levels can

be detrimental to health as well– Working around medical radiation (X-

rays, etc.)– Workers must keep track of how much

radiation they are exposed to

Radiation Spread

• Gamma rays – Move through air, water, and solid

material• Radioactive material

– Tough to contain– Can get blown by wind, rain, etc.– Can be absorbed in plants and

animals

Chernobyl

Chernobyl Disaster

• Massive nuclear reactor disaster• Occurred in Ukraine in 1986

– Can be considered worst nuclear power plant accident in history

• Major difficulties containing radioactive waste and radiation– Extent of the damage done to

community and surrounding countries still unknown

What does this mean for the Patient?

Concrete Medicine:• Shows a general and natural

sense of unease• Helps reader understand

narrator’s understanding of life & death

• Small things make a big difference– “The Devil is in the details”

What this means for Patient (Cont’d)

Abstract Medicine:• Shows shared sense of unknowing• Readers understand that narrator is

highly concerned with knowing all parts of life– Subsequently controlling those aspects

• Shows desperation and fear of narrator

“Diagnosis”

• Abstract and concrete forms of medicine show to reader:– Narrator’s understanding of life and

death– Narrator’s thought process while

dealing with finite nature of life– Contrast between the two aspects

themselves