The artist as surgical ethnographer: participant observers outside the social sciences

Abstract

Artists and novelists have rarely been considered as ethnographers in the medical social sciences. This article pursues the idea that ethnographically informed artistic works can be viewed as critical cultural texts alongside sociological and anthropological studies of surgery. It is proposed that art provides fresh perspectives on topics of interest in health sociology and medical anthropology while simultaneously expanding our engagement with ethnographic representation. Discussion revolves around a video installation incorporating images of heart surgery by contemporary artist Bill Viola and a recent novel by Ian McEwan detailing the day-in-the-life of a neurosurgeon. Considering an emerging re-engagement, particularly in contemporary art that artists are having with medical themes, and a concurrent `ethnographic turn' in art practice, it seems timely to recognize the potentially critical contribution of non-social scientist ethnographers to our understanding of a rapidly changing medical culture.