Rehumanizing People of the Past: Bioarchaeology, Medical Museums and Archives, and the Human Remains Trade

Illustrates how technical communication frequently dehumanizes the people represented by human remains and offers guidance for adopting rehumanizing language to return dignity to these individuals.

Rehumanizing People of the Past argues that much of the technical communication used to reference human remains-including reports in bioarchaeology, labels and descriptions in medical museums and archives, and web content in the human remains trade-does not adequately recognize the humanity of the individuals represented by those remains. The book presents "rehumanizing language" as a solution to this dehumanization problem, framing it as advocacy and social justice work in technical communication. Building from concepts and ethical standards in bioarchaeology, medical museums and archives, and the human remains trade along with technical communication and rhetoric of health and medicine (RHM), each chapter presents a framework for developing rehumanizing language in various contexts to better honor, dignify, and respect the people represented by human remains. These frameworks are also applied to several original studies, which explore existing technical communication and the ways it uses rehumanizing language or could be adapted to be more rehumanizing. Overall, this book is a tool for both technical communicators and practitioners in numerous fields, offering practical guidance for emphasizing the humanity of the dead.