Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities (Routledge Advances in Asia-Pacific Studies)

Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities is the first book to reflect on the power of film in representing medical and health discourse in China in both the past and the present, as well as in shaping its future.

Drawing on both feature and documentary films from mainland China, the chapters each engage with the field of medicine through the visual arts. They cover themes such as the history of doctors and their concepts of disease and therapies, understanding the patient experience of illness and death, and establishing empathy and compassion in medical practice, as well as the HIV/AIDs epidemic during the 1980s and 90s and changing attitudes towards disability. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, the contributors therefore provide different perspectives from the fields of history, psychiatry, film studies, anthropology, linguistics, public health and occupational therapy, as they relate to China and people who identify as Chinese. Their combined approaches are united by a passion for improving the cross-cultural understanding of the body and ultimately healthcare itself.

A key resource for educators in the Medical Humanities, this book will be useful to students and scholars of Chinese Studies and Film Studies as well as global health, medical anthropology and medical history.

Vivienne Lo is a Senior Lecturer and the convenor of the UCL China Centre for Health and Humanity, UK. Vivienne's core research concerns the social and cultural origins of acupuncture, therapeutic exercise, and food and medicine.

Chris Berry is Professor of Film Studies at King’s College London, UK. He researches Chinese-language cinemas and other Chinese-language screen-based media.

Guo Liping is Professor of English and Vice Dean in the School of Health Humanities, Peking University, China. Her research interests include narrative medicine and medical humanities education.