Anita Wohlmann

Dr. Anita Wohlmann is a researcher affiliated with the DFG-Research Training Group 'Life Sciences – Life Writing' at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. She is part of the Medical Faculty, specifically the Institute for the History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine. Her research focuses on the role of medical metaphors in North-American fictional narratives, analyzing how metaphors bridge medical/scientific knowledge with individual lived experiences.

Her work engages with interdisciplinary debates on metaphor theory since Lakoff and Johnson's seminal work (1980), exploring both the risks (e.g., stigmatization as per Susan Sontag) and therapeutic potential of metaphorical language in clinical contexts. She argues that understanding metaphorical discourse enriches holistic medical practice and humanistic inquiry into illness narratives.

Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), her project employs hermeneutical close readings to explore how metaphors mediate between scientific objectivity and subjective patient experiences. Key areas of investigation include the ethical dimensions of metaphor use in healthcare communication and the creative potential of metaphor for expressing ineffable aspects of illness.

Her research contributes to the growing field of medical humanities, emphasizing the interplay between literary analysis and medical ethics. While no specific awards or publications are listed here, her work reflects engagement with prominent scholars like James Bono, Lynne Greenberg, and Christine Marks.