Literature and Medicine: Illness, Writing, and Repair

How have French writers sought to portray the experience of illness, medicine, and the modern hospital in recent years? What role, if any, does literature adopt, as its own form of knowledge and healing, in trying to care for sick bodies and diagnose the failings of the medical system itself? How might literature and medicine enrich each other? Short works by key modern writers on topics ranging from mental health, autism, and eating disorders to organ transplants, AIDS, abortion, and disability. Brief background readings in the medical humanities. Class is writing-intensive and discussion-centered to improve French language skills.