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Reflections on Reading Bodies (2023-2025)

As we reach the final stages of the Reading Bodies grant, here are some reflections on the shape, scope and challenges of the project over the last 20 months:

This AHRC-funded multilingual project has sought to address the under-representation of Hispanic Studies research in the wider field of Medical Humanities. To achieve this objective, the project has facilitated exchanges with specialists working on literary and cultural representations of health and illness in French, Portuguese, Italian and German Studies. It includes the following highlights:

Year One

  • Established an international Reading Bodies Research Network with specialists in the UK, Europe and USA, through regular online meetings to facilitate the exchange of ideas and perspectives.
  • Held academic workshops in 2024 at the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (University of London) and University of Exeter;
  • Contributed to the Multilingual Medical Humanities series of The Polyphony;
  • Established partnerships with arts and cultural organisations, writers, artists and health professionals;
  • Developed an extended Special Issue with the Journal of Romance Studies on ‘Reading Bodies: Narrating Illness in European Literatures and Cultures (1870s to 1970s and Beyond)’, forthcoming in Autumn 2025.
  • More information on outputs can be found here.

Year Two

  • Hosted creative workshops and public engagement activity in Exeter and London, leading to the Reading Bodies: Burnout, Overload and Resilience anthology (2024);
  • Shared our research impact via the University’s Public Engagement with Research blog and University News;
  • Held an ‘in conversation’ online event about writing bodies and health with acclaimed author Sarah Moss. This interview aimed to establish connections between research on literary representations of health and illness in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and their relevance in the present day;
  • Disseminated our research findings via conferences such as the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland, Edinburgh University (April 2025) and Northern Network for Medical Humanities Research 2025 Congress on ‘TONGUES: Medical Humanities across Linguistic and Cultural Frontiers’ (May 2025).

If you’re interested in learning more about these activities and the wider field of Multilingual Medical Humanities, please follow our Reading Bodies Multilingual Network on Bluesky.

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Articles Reviews

#MultilingualMedHums: A Thematic Series for The Polyphony

By Dr Jordan McCullough, Associate Editor at The Polyphony and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of St Gallen, Switzerland

Established in 2023, The Polyphony’s ‘Multilingual MedHums’ series seeks to challenge ‘the Anglocentric nature of much medical humanities scholarship by showcasing the work of scholars based in and working on non-anglophone countries.’[1] The series encourages readers and contributors to engage with the rich entanglement of language and culture, as the media through which health and illness are lived and communicated, and to reflect on the significance of this intersection for their own research agendas and those of the wider field. Following the recent trajectory of other multilingual scholarship in the field, calling us in the direction of a global Medical Humanities,[2] the series seeks to push beyond the boundaries of the Anglosphere; introduce new research trajectories developing across the world; and demonstrate the value of multilingual and translational approaches for the future of the Medical Humanities. The ‘Multilingual MedHums’ series thus resonates with the ‘Reading Bodies’ project on multiple levels.

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News Reviews

Bibliotherapy with Exeter City of Literature

On the benefits of reading for wellbeing and bibliotherapy in the community, take a look at Exeter City of Literature’s Bibliotherapy Skills programme. Their website includes a literature review on bibliotherapy produced by the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health.