Somatic Lessons: Narrating Patienthood and Illness in Indian Medical Literature

Looks at narrative in the history of ayurvedic medical literature and the perspectives on illness and patienthood that emerge.

In ayurvedic medical practice, the ways in which and the reasons why people become ill are often explained with stories. This book explores the forms and functions of narrative in Āyurveda, India's classical medical system. Looking at narratives concerning fever, miscarriage, and the so-called king's disease, Anthony Cerulli examines how the medical narrative shifts ...