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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2017; 75(11): 830-832
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20170129
Historical Note

The charming physician (El médico encantador): neurological conditions in a short story by Silvina Ocampo

O médico encantador (El médico encantador): doenças neurológicas em um conto de Silvina Ocampo
Guillermo Delgado-García
1   Autonomous University of Nuevo León, University Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Monterrey, Mexico
,
Carolina Rodríguez-Návarez
2   Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Prepa Tec Santa Catarina, Department of Spanish, Monterrey, Mexico
3   ALFA Foundation, Extracurricular Talent Center (II), Monterrey, Mexico
,
Bruno Estañol
4   National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, Mexico City, Mexico
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ABSTRACT

The Argentinian author Silvina Ocampo (1903-1993) left us a vast body of works which are considered outstanding in many ways. In 1960, she published a short story, entitled “El médico encantador" (The Charming Physician), in the renowned literary magazine Sur. The central character of this piece is a family doctor named Albino Morgan, who had a secret truth: in any house he visited, all variety of disease also entered. He brought with him the viruses he disseminated. The narrator of this short story—one of his patients—describes four of Morgan's diseases. These imaginary neurological conditions allowed Ocampo to explore improbable situations in everyday life.

RESUMO

A autora argentina Silvina Ocampo (1903-1993) deixou-nos uma vasta obra que é considerada excelente de várias maneiras. Em 1960, publicou um conto, intitulado “El médico encantador" (O médico encantador), na famosa revista literária Sur. O personagem principal desta obra é um médico de família chamado Albino Morgan que possuía uma verdade secreta: em qualquer casa que ele visitava, também entrava toda a diversidade de doenças. O narrador deste conto -um dos seus pacientes- descreve quatro das doenças de Morgan. Estas condições neurológicas imaginárias permitiu a Ocampo explorar as situações improváveis da vida quotidiana.

Keywords:

neurology - medicine in literature - medicine in art - agnosia - sleep initiation and maintenance disorders

Palabras-Clave:

neurologia - medicina na literatura - medicina na arte - agnosia - distúrbios do início e da manutenção do sono


Publication History

Received: 09 November 2016

Accepted: 18 July 2017

Article published online:
01 September 2023

© 2023. Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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