CHALLENGES OF DOCTOR-PATIENT COMMUNICATION IN THE LITERARY AND MEDICAL DISCOURSE OF THE U.S. PROSE

Abstract

The aim of the present research is to examine the narrative representation of difficulties in doctor – patient communication as exemplified by the literary and medical discourse of the U.S. prose. The material of the research is the corpus of literary writings, focused on medical issues and imbedded in the clinical chronotope. In the course of our research, we found that doctor – patient communication in the literary and medical discourse of the U.S. prose is impeded by the following challenges: (1) language barrier between the physician and the patient (or patient’s relatives), including the excessive use of Latin or medical slang; (2) cultural barrier between the physician and the patient (e.g., doctor’s biased attitude towards the patient); (3) ideological barrier between the worldview of the physician and that of the patient; (4) patient’s physical limitations (e.g., paralysis, speech impairment, mental disorder etc.); (5) motivational barrier (doctor’s deliberate detachment from the patient or patient’s unwillingness to cooperate during the interview). Within the framework of the material under consideration, the U.S. writers use the abovementioned categories of communication challenges in order to implement a particular artistic intention, which acts in compliance with a certain literary trend and according to a specific stage in the development of American medicine and healthcare. Further research is needed to study the fictional representation of doctor-patient communication in the literary and medical discourse of the U.S. prose, which will improve the content of training courses in the world literature and form a methodological basis for the development of special courses, theme-based seminars and academic syllabi.