[Aesthetics of the grotesque and audiovisual production for health education: segregation or empathy? The case of leishmaniasis in Brazil]

(A estética do grotesco e a produção audiovisual para a educação em saúde: segregação ou empatia? O caso das leishmanioses no Brasil.)

Full Abstract

In order to understand audiovisual production on health and disease and the pedagogical effects of health education mediated by educational videos, this article analyzes the audiovisual production on leishmaniasis in Brazil. Fourteen educational videos showed the hegemony of TV aesthetics, particularly a journalistic paradigm with constant use of voice-over, inducing the fixation of meanings. Rather than stimulating critical reflection on the social circumstances of leishmaniasis, the videos' discourse and images promote a banal, non-critical, stigmatized representation of the disease. Individuals with the disease are subjected to visual exposure rather than being involved critically and sensitively as protagonists in prevention and treatment. The article thus presents approaches based on studies of visual and health anthropology, arguing in favor of an innovative approach to the production and utilization of educational videos in health education, mediated through audiovisuals. Health education should respect and engage in dialogue with various cultures, subjectivity, and citizenship, developing an audiovisual aesthetics (in terms of narrative and image) that fosters an educational praxis in the field of collective health.

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Author information

Author/s: Pimenta, Denise Nacif (DN); Leandro, Anita (A); Schall, Virgínia Torres (VT);

Affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Brasil. nacif(-atsign-)cpqrr.fiocruz.br

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: English Abstract; Journal Article

Journal: Cadernos de saúde pública / Ministério da Saúde, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública (Cad Saude Publica), published in Brazil. (Language: por)

Reference: 2007-May; vol 23 (issue 5) : pp 1161-71

Dates: Created 2007/05/08; Completed 2008/02/08;

PMID: 17486238, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Audiovisual Aids
Brazil
Health Education - methods

Humans
Leishmaniasis - prevention & control
Social Perception

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