Foucauldian Discourse Analysis as a Methodological Strategy in Medical History Research
Tārīkh-i pizishkī i.e., Medical History,
Vol. 18 (1405),
4 April 2026
,
Page 1-12
https://doi.org/10.22037/mhj.v18i.51229
Abstract
Background and Aim: Medical history researches in contemporary academic traditions has often been based on descriptive and narrative approaches, with less attention to the mechanisms of knowledge production, power relations and institutional contexts shaping medical knowledge. While these approaches are useful for reconstructing historical events, they are often insufficient for analyzing the discursive foundations of medical knowledge. Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework, centered on the relationship between knowledge and power, provides a critical methodological perspective for rethinking research in medical history. This article aims to introduce and explain Foucauldian Discourse Analysis as a methodological strategy in medical history research and to clarify its analytical capacities and stages of application.
Methods: This research is qualitative, analytical and methodological in nature, grounded in a critical re-reading of Michel Foucault’s major and interpretive works in the fields of archaeology and genealogy. Employing the Foucauldian discourse analysis framework, key concepts such as statements, objects of knowledge, discursive subjects, legitimizing rules and mechanisms of exclusion and silence are systematically formulated and explained as an operational model for medical history research. The article focuses on methodological logic and the practical stages of discourse analysis, avoiding engagement with empirical data.
Ethical Considerations: In conducting this research, the principles of scientific integrity, honesty in citing theoretical sources, conceptual fidelity to Foucault’s thought and avoidance of interpretive bias have been observed.
Results: The methodological findings of the research indicate that Foucauldian discourse analysis enables the study of medical history as a discursive field comprising power relations, institutions, regimes of truth and processes of subjectivation. Accordingly, a phased framework for applying this method in medical history studies is presented.
Conclusion: Foucauldian discourse analysis, as a methodological strategy, has the capacity to move beyond descriptive historiography toward a critical analysis of medical knowledge and can open new horizons for future research in the history of medicine and the history of science.
- History of Medicine
- Foucaultian Discourse Analysis
- Research Design
- Knowledge
- Power
How to Cite
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