‘Storia’ in Italian means the narrative of facts, actions and events, summing up the meanings of English history and story.
It derives from the Latin ‘historia’ (account, story, tale), which also had the same semantic ambiguity, already inherited from the Greek ‘ἱστορία’ (history, tale). The latter word has genetic links with the homograph ‘ἱστορίᾱ’, ‘the enquiry, the knowledge gained or the written account’, which comes from ‘ἵστωρ’, i.e. ‘the one who knows the law, the witness, the wise man’.
History is therefore a vehicle of knowledge and justice.
History as a discipline is concerned with reconstructing, analysing and thus learning about the events of the past, retracing the steps that led to the present and orienting the decisions of tomorrow. Therefore, history is not only about the past, but also about the present and the future, especially since it is on these that there is still scope for action.
Not differently works the personal history of each of us, that is, the reconstruction of our experience, the narration of how we live the present and the projection of the future.
What distinguishes History from stories could be said to be the protagonist. In the former case, traditionally, the subject in the foreground is a more or less extended community of which some exponents emerge for the influence they have had on the group. In the case of personal stories, on the other hand, the sole protagonist is the individual with his perceptions and relationships.
Narrative medicine has its own history, from its prodromes to its theorisation to the growing fortune it enjoys today, but above all it has to do with stories. In fact, narrative medicine wants to bring a renewed focus on telling the individual’s story in the context of care. It is a way of emphasising caring rather than mechanical treatment, which is fundamental but not exhaustive.
It is not a protocol, but an attitude. It is no coincidence that many of the words that are associated with the idea of narrative medicine indicate processes (consider, improve, help) or attitudes (attention, acceptance, posture) aimed at adapting an impersonal care protocol to an individual’s life, at placing the emphasis on the person rather than on the disease.
Thus, the component of justice that stories entail also emerges. Stories make it possible to resurrect from the background, however essential, of evidence-based medicine the value of the individual and open up treatment to care, i.e. attention to the patient’s past, present and future. It is only by knowing his or her story that treatment can be right for a person.
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