Kinzelbach A
Ber Wiss. 1997;20(2-3):253-65. doi: 10.1002/bewi.19970200213.
This study shows how the different concepts of epidemic diseases met with the everyday needs of the late medieval and early modern society. The analysis of practice and discourse in the context of "pestilences" covers broad social strata from representatives of the authorities and medical doctors to artisans and the "poor" in German Imperial Towns and their territories. Generally, those persons acted according to a variety of concepts. Their seemingly contradictory actions cannot be explained refering to their ignorance about infection, but have to be interpreted in the appropriate situational context. In this context it is possible to understand how the variety and parallelism of different concepts enabled groups as well as individuals to choose those notions of the spreading of diseases which promised the least interference with their plans and intentions.
本研究展示了流行病的不同概念如何满足中世纪晚期和近代早期社会的日常需求。在“瘟疫”背景下对实践和话语的分析涵盖了广泛的社会阶层，从德国帝国城市及其领地的当局代表、医生到工匠和“穷人”。一般来说，这些人依据多种概念行事。他们看似矛盾的行为不能归因于对感染的无知，而必须在适当的情境中加以解读。在这种背景下，就有可能理解不同概念的多样性和平行性如何使群体以及个人能够选择那些对其计划和意图干扰最小的疾病传播观念。
