The (auto)ethnographic view of three midwives and the translation graph (cinemato)graphic. The intricacies of the authorial I

• Main Authors: Serena BRIGIDI, Josep M. COMELLES
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca 2016-04-01
• Series: Revista de Medicina y Cine / Journal of Medicine and Movies
• Subjects: comadronas; memorias; salud reproductive; auto etnografía; cinematografía
• Online Access: https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/medicina_y_cine/article/view/13585

Actually, the changes resulting from the questioning of the Welfare State, ideological positions and feminism have launched a debate on supply/demand about Reproductive Health. Our purpose is to evaluate the value of ethnographic narrations of three midwives: Ramona Via, Jennifer Worth and Lisbeth Burger. The casuistry presents in these ethnographies are now important references for some of the debates about the medicalization’s process of Reproductive Health and the claim of delivery care home births and their reflections on the mother and the babies safety, the conditions that must be met at home, etc. The text also addresses the problems arising in an auto?ethnography when transported to a (cinemato)graphic spelling, as in the case of Call the midwife. This transformation requires a change in the perspective of the "literary?self" from mediation work done by both the script and the visual narrative construction. From this point of view, the contrast between the immediate literary perspective, deferred and finally the visual re?construction of narrative’s ethnographic dimensions can provide perspective to critically situate the television series and its potential as a teaching material.