‘Genres of the imagination’ (novels, plays, movies, etc.) provide a stage for acting out (in a lively and convincing manner) bioethical quandaries emerging in contemporary biomedicine. This chapter entails a psychoanalytical (‘depth’... more
‘Genres of the imagination’ (novels, plays, movies, etc.) provide a stage for acting out (in a lively and convincing manner) bioethical quandaries emerging in contemporary biomedicine. This chapter entails a psychoanalytical (‘depth’ bioethical) reading of Arrowsmith, the first biomedical science novel, published by Sinclair Lewis in 1925 and focussing on the normative tensions of biomedicine as a research field. Science novels contain a wealth of materials for bioethical reflection, both in research and in education, and Arrowsmith notably reveals how, beneath the aim of biomedicine to do good, and to contribute to the well-being of patients, there is a deeper impulse at work as well, directed towards controlling life. The objective of this chapter is to bring this disconcerting ‘will to power’ into view, showing how science novels may broaden to scope of bioethical discourse.
