Book part:

Vulnerabilität und Verantwortung: Ethische Implikationen der Produktion und Rezeption von Pathographien

For thousands of years, artists have been fascinated by illness and pain. However, representing the life of the sick in a work of art raises specific ethical challenges – regardless of whether this pathography (i.e. a biography focused on a person’s illness) is composed as a literary text, a movie or a computer game. To convey an understanding of its ethical dimensions, the article at hand is meant as a short introduction into the conceptual history, definition, and mediality of the genre of pathography. Subsequently, I will discuss the effects pathographies may have on patients, health care providers, and society. The article concludes with an outlook on the ethical implications pathographic processes of production and reception may have with regard to digital games.