A literary approach to tuberculosis: lessons learned from Anton Chekhov, Franz Kafka, and Katherine Mansfield

Abstract

Letters by notable writers from the past century can provide valuable information on the times in which they lived. In this article, attention is drawn to the lessons learned from three famous writers who died of tuberculosis: Anton Chekhov, Franz Kafka, and Katherine Mansfield. The characteristics of the course of the disease in the pre-antibiotic era and the importance of addressing mental health in the management of tuberculosis are discussed.

Keywords: Chekhov; Kafka; Literature; Mansfield; Mental health; Tuberculosis.