“I SHOULD SEE A DOCTOR, BUT WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT, MELANCHOLY TAKES OVER …”: ABOUT AFFECTIVE ATMOSPHERES AS A SUBJECT OF RESEARCH IN MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Abstract

The article deals with the problems of conceptualization and research of affective atmospheres. Based on the use of the concepts of affective atmospheres by German and Italian phenomenologists Hermann Schmitz, Gernot Boehme and Tonino Griffero, the case of atmospheres of Russian medical institutions is investigated. It is concluded that the inclusion of the “atmospheric approach” in the tools of social sciences in general and anthropology in particular, allows us to resist distancing strategies that reduce social reality to a set of measurable parameters or a set of signs. Modern approaches to the design of atmospheres implemented in many applied fields (urbanism, musical composition, theater, painting, marketing, etc.) allow us to hope that medical spaces will be able to use this knowledge to transform their own atmospheres into an effective therapeutic tool that facilitates the condition of patients.