Clinical Empathy and the Ethics of "Detached Concern" in Mid-TwentiethCentury British Literature

This article explores the cultural reception of the medical ethic of "detached concern" as represented in mid-twentieth-century British literature. Although empathy is a crucial aspect of effective medical care, daily exposure to the pain and suffering of others can lead to professional distress and burnout. In response, medical practitioners developed an emotionless conception of professional empathy, namely "detached concern," which equates the detachment required to dissect a cadaver to the stance needed to listen empathically without becoming emotionally involved. Mid-century British novels by Stanley Winchester, Margaret Drabble, Anthony Burgess, and A. J. Cronin offer privileged insight into the values British physicians and patients attached to empathy. These texts lead readers to question whether "detached concern" necessarily leads to empathy and offer insight into the lived experience of doctor-patient relations during a period of radical change and innovation in healthcare practices.