From a foundational narrative to a life story in the context of the history of orthopedics in Colombia (1940-1990)

Abstract

The triumph of knowledge during the 20th century in Colombia constituted stories about the emergence of medical specialties such as orthopedics, in the 1940s. Its context of production underlies clinical histories, medical biographies, specialized publications, speeches and professorships where “founding stories” are found about the strength of men of science and the need to contribute to society with correction, straightening, and normalization of the body, as detailed in the first part of this article. In contrast to these accounts, there are stories of orthopedic patients, historically cataloged as sick children, not enough for the hospital, but not as healthy for school either. In their life stories, fueled by gestures and emotions, stories are told of day-to-day life in hospitals, of daily life amid physical therapy sessions, of the meaning of having a different body, of social life within the hospital, of doctor-patient relationships, the impact of an orthopedic disease on the family and social life, aspects that go beyond the possibilities of information from official medical sources and favor the construction of plural stories that ask about the body and emotions.