accident: a day’s news
Post on 23-Feb-2016
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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
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