Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 1985

Language and the Healing Arts: Some Recent Texts on Medical Writing

Robert E. Bjork Arizona State University

Abstract

Medical and scientific writing have traditionally occasioned debate. The earliest critics of scientific language were harsh because they were promoting a plain style of writing free from rhetorical embellishment, not because they questioned the writing ability of those they censured. Writing and language were central parts of scientific inquiry. Modern critics are likewise frequently harsh and derisive, but they have lost sight of the integrated approach to language and science that their predecessors had. This article examines three texts published within the last ten years that seem to reverse some trends in medical writing. Tapping non-scientific fields from philology to aesthetics to composition theory, these texts suggest ways in which the humanities can be reintegrated with the study of medical and scientific writing.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1985-01-01
DOI
10.2190/acbm-ppev-tmej-ml7p
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism composition theory writing pedagogy voice and style argument scientific writing
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References (13)

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  5. Dirckx J. H. (1977)
    Dx + Rx: A Physician's Guide to Medical Writing
Show all 13 →
  1. King L. S. (1978)
    Why Not Say It Clearly? A Guide to Scientific Writing
  2. Huth E. J. (1982)
    How to Write and Publish Papers in the Medical Sciences
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     ↗
  4. When We Dead Awaken: Reviving Metaphor in Medical Writing, Journal of Advanced Composition, Summer, 1984 (for…
  5. Writing Courses in American Medical Schools (1983)
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  6. 10.1002/j.0022-0337.1982.46.11.tb01599.x
     ↗
  7. 10.1007/BF01324004
     ↗
  8. (1982)
    Prose Therapy: Writing for Biomedical Journals
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