On Objects and Bodies: Non-Representational Theory and Medical Materiality

Within museum studies, there has been a recent interest in engaging with objects and their material effects as something other than vehicles for human cultural meaning, arguing that there has been a tendency to miss out of “an examination of the physical actuality of objects and the sensory modalities through which we experience them” (Dudley 2010). This paper builds on this interest in materiality, applying it to the study of medical objects. It will present three theoretical notions – anecdotes, metonymies and the punctum – that in different ways contribute to a non-representational vocabulary and toolbox.