Stories to Be Told: Korean Doctors Between Hwa-byung (Fire-Illness) and Depression, 1970–2011

This article analyzes the process of the making of hwa-byung (fire illness) an internationally recognized term for a Korean emotion-related disorder. To index hwa-byung as a valid condition within professional medical circles, Koreans draw on both the traditional idea of “constrained fire” and the DSM’s modern identification of “depressive disorders.” Examining the research on hwa-byung since the 1970s, conducted by both Korean psychiatrists and doctors of traditional medicine, this article demonstrates how inextricably conceptions of Korean-ness in medicine have been tied to the right positioning of Korea in a global context. The project of defining a uniquely Korean malady reflects the desire of medical professionals to make the indigenous meaningful, thereby guaranteeing a tool for gaining circulation and foreign recognition. Studies of hwa-byung since the 2000s have in many ways been a reflection of the endeavor to interpret patients’ narratives as a therapeutic resource. Some hwa-byung specialists have dealt with patients’ stories of illness over time and argue for establishing better techniques of clinical communication. Whereas the label of hwa-byung initiated the indigenous turn during the 1980s, now the term succinctly responds to the recent trend of exploring the colloquial dimension of medicine. This also demonstrates the way in which hwa-byung has been (dis)assembled at the junction of global and domestic flows.