Abstract
In this chapter we explore how surgeons perform inspections inside patients’ bodies prior to making invasive manoeuvres that could damage vital anatomical structures. Drawing on a video corpus of keyhole operations, we show that the inspections are characterised by a distinct set of visibility manoeuvres. We describe these non-invasive operations on anatomical structures as ‘transitive gestures’. Thus the chapter draws attention to the meaning potential of a common, yet hitherto undocumented type of practical-technical surgical action, and demonstrates the relevance of embodied activity as an object of inquiry in (health) communication research.
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Bezemer, J., Murtagh, G., Cope, A. (2019). Inspecting Objects: Visibility Manoeuvres in Laparoscopic Surgery. In: Reber, E., Gerhardt, C. (eds) Embodied Activities in Face-to-face and Mediated Settings. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97325-8_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97325-8_4
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