When illness is war: An action-research at the Colosseum

Marika D'Oria; Andrea Schiappelli; Laura Monti; Francesco Miccichè; Emilio Bria; Vincenzo Valentini

doi:10.60923/issn.1825-8670/23800

Authors

Marika D'Oria Center of Excellence in Oncology, Ospedale Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola, Rome https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4253-8223

Senior Research Advisor in Medical Humanities at the Center of Excellence in Oncology, Ospedale Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola (Rome). Member of the Interdepartmental Center for Medical Humanities and Narrative Medicine, University of Milan-Bicocca (Milan).
Andrea Schiappelli Parco archeologico del Colosseo

Cultural heritage expert at Parco archeologico del Colosseo (Rome). His work focuses on narrative practices, public engagement, and the educative potential of archaeological sites in fostering reflection, inclusion, and experiential learning to worldwide visitors. Head of the Education Service, where he created and has led the broad culture and wellness program “Salus per Artem” since 2019.
Laura Monti Clinical Psychology Unit, Ospedale Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola, Rome https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8339-265X

Head of the Clinical Psychology Unit at Ospedale Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola (Rome). Adjunct Professor in Clinical Psychology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (Rome).
Francesco Miccichè Radiation Oncology Unit, Center of Excellence in Oncology, Ospedale Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola, Rome https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9666-3033

Head of the Radiation Therapy Unit at Ospedale Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola (Rome), where he leads clinical practice and research in radiation oncology. He is active in integrative oncology care and contributes to multidisciplinary clinical and scientific collaborations.
Emilio Bria Department of Translational Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome

Head of the Medical Oncology Unit at Ospedale Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola (Rome). Associate Professor of Medical Oncology at Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS (Rome). He leads clinical and research programmes in thoracic and solid tumor oncology and is engaged in integrative patient-centered care and clinical research
Vincenzo Valentini Center of Excellence in Oncology, Ospedale Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola, Rome https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4637-6487

Radiation oncologist with extensive academic and clinical experience in translational oncology and healthcare innovation. His work promotes integrated care models, interdisciplinary research, and the development of human-centered approaches in oncological practice

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60923/issn.1825-8670/23800

Keywords:

Phenomenology, Medical humanities, Metaphor, Action-research, Oncology

Abstract

The “war” metaphor is widely used to describe the cancer experience, yet it may generate ambivalent emotional and relational effects. This study presents an action-research project, developed with the educators of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo (PArCo), aimed at exploring how the internal orientation (tropos) of war metaphors can be reoriented through embodied and narrative training practices. The project involved 12 professionals (clinicians, educators, and engineers) participating in a laboratory structured into three training modules based on situated experience, reflective writing, and interdisciplinary work. Qualitative analysis of the materials produced (narrative scripts, reflective texts, drawings, and group discussions) led to the identification of 6 categories of pedagogical questions and 3 embodied narrative frameworks used to address waiting, agency, and hope. Results show a change in participants’ ability to recognize the tropos of metaphors used by patients and to modulate clinical communication in a more empathic and generative meaning-oriented way. The study highlights the educational value of metaphor work as a tool for improving oncological practice.

References

Baldacci, M., & Frabboni, F. (a cura di). (2013). Manuale della ricerca educativa. Torino: UTET.

Bertolini, P. (1999). L’esistere pedagogico. Firenze: La Nuova Italia.

Biffi, E. (2014). Le scritture professionali del lavoro educativo. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Bruzzone, D. (2012). Farsi persona. Lo sguardo fenomenologico e l’enigma della formazione. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Bury, M. (1982). Chronic illness as biographical disruption. Sociology of Health & Illness, 4(2), 167–182. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.ep11339939

Cambi, F. (2003). Manuale di storia della pedagogia. Roma-Bari: Laterza.

Cambi, F. (2010). La cura di sé come processo formativo. Roma-Bari: Laterza.

Cappa, F. (2025). Il corpo come oggetto pedagogico. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Carel, H. (2008). Illness: The Cry of the Flesh. Durham: Acumen Publishing.

Casasanto, D., & Gijssels, T. (2015). What makes a metaphor an embodied metaphor? Linguistics Vanguard, 1(1), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2014-1015

Castiglioni, M. (2015). Figure della cura. Gesti, immagini, parole per narrare. Milano: Guerini e Associati.

Castiglioni, M. (2020). Che cosa sono gli ospedali narrativi? Medicina Historica, 4(1 – Suppl.), 214–217.

Castiglioni, M. (2013). La narrazione per la costruzione di significati nello sviluppo del Sé. In C. Petrucco, & M. De Rossi (a cura di), Narrazioni digitali in prospettiva educativa e formativa. Roma: Carocci.

Charon, R. (2006). Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Clift, S., & Camic, P. M. (2016). Oxford Textbook of Creative Arts, Health, and Wellbeing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dallari, M. (2005). I saperi e le identità. Milano: Guerini e Associati.

Dallari, M. (2024). Il dono della parola. L’oralità nel labirinto delle relazioni. Lecce: Pensa Multimedia.

Dinapoli, L., Caliandro, M., Chiesa, S., Marconi, E., Capocchiano, N. D., Mazzarella, C., Bartoli, F. B., Bracci, S., Balducci, M., Chieffo, D. P. R., Fiorentino, A., Valentini, V., Tagliaferri, L., Gambacorta, M. A., & Dinapoli, N. (2024). Resilience and spiritual well-being as resources for coping with radiotherapy and surviving in patients with glioblastoma. Palliative & Supportive Care, 23, e10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951524001111

Feldman, J., & Narayanan, S. (2004). Embodied meaning in a neural theory of language. Brain and Language, 89(2), 385–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2003.12.087

Frank, A.W. (1995). The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gallagher, S. (2005). How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Gamelli, I. (2011). Pedagogia del corpo. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.

Gibbs, R. W. (2005). Embodiment and Cognitive Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ghirotto, L. (Ed.) (2012). Formare alla ricerca empirica in educazione. Atti del Convegno Nazionale del Gruppo di Lavoro SIPED. Teorie e Metodi della Ricerca in Educazione. Bologna: AMS UNIBO.

Iori, V. (2009). Il sapere dei sentimenti. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R. (1988). The Action Research Planner (3rd ed.). Geelong: Deakin University Press.

Lakoff, G. (2014). Mapping the brain’s metaphor circuitry: Metaphorical thought in everyday reason. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 958. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00958

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought. New York: Basic Books.

Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1946.tb02295.x

Liu, Y., Semino, E., Rietjens, J., & Payne, S. (2024). Cancer experience in metaphors: patients, carers, professionals, students - a scoping review. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 14(e3), e2366-e2376. https://doi(10.1136/spcare-2024-004927

Marone, F. (2016). La medicina narrativa e le buone pratiche nei contesti di cura. Lecce: Pensa Multimedia.

Massa, R. (1987). Educare o istruire? Milano: Unicopli.

Massa, R. (2003). Le tecniche e i corpi. Verso una scienza dell’educazione. Milano: Unicopli.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (2012). Phenomenology of Perception (D. A. Landes, Trans.). London: Routledge.

Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Mortari, L. (2022). La pratica dell’aver cura. Milano: Mondadori.

Mortari, L. (2015). Filosofia della cura. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.

Mortari, L., & Ghirotto, L. (2019). Metodi per la ricerca educativa. Roma: Carocci.

Ricoeur, P. (1984). Time and Narrative (Vol. 1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Ricoeur, P. (1977). The Rule of Metaphor: Multi-disciplinary Studies of the Creation of Meaning in Language (R. Czerny, K. McLaughlin, & J. Costello, Trans.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Schön, D.A. (1987). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.

Semino, E., Demjén, Z., Hardie, A., Payne, S., & Rayson, P. (2017). Metaphor, Cancer and the End of Life: A Corpus-Based Study. London: Routledge.

Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X027002004

Shapiro, L. (2011). Embodied Cognition. London: Routledge.

Smith, J.A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research. London: Sage.

Sontag, S. (1978). Illness as Metaphor. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Stein, E. (1989). On the Problem of Empathy (W. Stein, Trans.). Washington: ICS Publications.

Svenaeus, F. (2001). The Hermeneutics of Medicine and the Phenomenology of Health: Steps Towards a Philosophy of Medical Practice. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Tarozzi, M., & Francesconi, D. (2013). Introduzione. Per un’embodied education fenomenologicamente fondata. Encyclopaideia, 37, 11–17.

Tarozzi, M. (2013). Fenomenologia dell’esperienza e della realtà. Paideutika, IX, 103–122.

Toombs, S.K. (1992). The Meaning of Illness: A Phenomenological Account of the Different Perspectives of Physician and Patient. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

van Manen, M. (1990). Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. New York: State University of New York Press.

Varela, F.J., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1991). The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge: MIT Press.

World Health Organization. (2019). What is the Evidence on the Role of the Arts in Improving Health and Well-Being? A Scoping Review. WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Zaidel, D. W. (2010). Art and the brain: Insights from neuroscience. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 9(2), 85–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-2165.2010.00497.x

Zannini, L. (2001). Il professionista riflessivo: Per una formazione alla riflessività in ambito sanitario. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Zannini, L. (2008). Medical Humanities e medicina narrativa. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.

Zannini, L. (2015). Fare formazione nei contesti di prevenzione e cura. Lecce: Pensa Multimedia.

When illness is war: An action-research at the Colosseum

Authors

DOI:

Keywords:

Abstract

References

Downloads

Published

How to Cite

Issue

Section

License

Language

Make a Submission

Information

Current Issue