7 Military myths and metaphors
Journal: Manchester University Press eBooks
Year: 2023

This chapter looks at the place of military metaphors in the surgical stereotype. In the aftermath of two world wars, the idea that clinicians and military personnel shared similar characteristics became increasingly pervasive. This was particularly the case in Britain, which has a highly developed military-industrial-scientific complex. Starting with a longer history of military metaphors in nineteenth-century medical texts, the chapter explores the language of surgeons' descriptions of operati