Susana de Noronha

Noronha worked across anthropologist, sociologist, researcher, university teacher and illustrator and 2 further recorded occupations. This article rests on 6 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

Susana de Noronha studied at University of Coimbra. The recorded working language is Portuguese, English and Spanish. The field of work recorded is anthropology and sociology. Employment is recorded with University of Minho, Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra and University of Coimbra. Distinctions recorded are Mulheres na Ciência, 30 Anos, 30 Antropólogos, Prémio CES para Jovens Cientistas Sociais de Língua Portuguesa and Prémio Bernardino Machado.

Author of three research monographs, book chapters, and scientific articles, exploring representations of illness, technologies, and biomedical materialities in visual arts, she pioneered the study of art and material culture of oncological illness in Portugal, her field of work since 2005. Recognized for her dozens of published scientific illustrations, she is responsible for introducing a new methodology called creative ethnographic drawing, revitalizing this practice through the use of metaphor and imagination, expanding the forms of production within the social sciences. Her work has already earned her several invitations to universities and appearances in the national media.

In her first work, published in 2009, the researcher analyzes and comments on 24 artistic projects produced by women, all related to the female experience of breast cancer. The author approaches art as an integral part of the lived experience of the disease, exploring how it shapes how cancer is experienced, understood, and faced. From diagnosis to surgical experiences, Noronha portrays how art is used as a tool of expression by women facing cancer. Through a variety of artistic forms, including photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, and collage, the author demonstrates how art can be a form of knowledge and intervention, both individually and collectively. By blending empirical, biomedical, and social knowledge, the artists redefine the experience of cancer as a socially constructed reality, beyond the traditional medical perspective.

In her second work, published in 2015, the author investigated the material culture of oncological illness, examining the materialities present in artistic projects created by or with women who have experienced cancer. The author explores how hospital, household, and personal objects intertwine with different stages of the disease, from diagnosis to death. By considering a wide range of artistic forms, including photography, painting, drawing, collage, modeling, sculpture, and sewing, Noronha illustrates how illness manifests as a modular experience, while objects exist and act as embeddable realities within that context. This theoretical and methodological approach continues to depict the intersection between art, illness, and material culture.

In the final piece of her trilogy, published in 2019, Susana de Noronha gathers experiences and stories from eight Portuguese women with cancer, utilizing a qualitative, intersubjective, and transdisciplinary approach. Integrating knowledge of the body, spoken word, creative writing, photography, drawing, and painting, this project seeks an ontological, epistemological, and performative understanding of art as an integral part of the cancer experience. The researcher reflects on the elements that shape women's experiences, combining text and image to create an illustrated social science that enhances the impact and public outcomes of the research.

Susana de Noronha's artistic journey began in childhood, where drawing people, objects, and events became an integral part of her life. Throughout adolescence, as a student of art and design, her sketchbooks were filled with intricate representations of eyes, faces, hands, and trees, each serving as central themes reflecting her evolving artistic style. Drawing essentially became a defining aspect of her identity and potential. Transitioning into her career as an anthropologist, Susana de Noronha integrated her creative skills into her academic pursuits, reshaping traditional notions of social sciences, scientific illustration, and ethnographic drawing. Far from being just a complement to her professional activities, art formed the foundation of her research methodology. Although she may not identify as an artist in the traditional sense, she sees herself as a social scientist who uses art as a means to both understand and engage with her subjects of study. In her academic work, Susana de Noronha has produced a diverse variety of illustrations, each one imbued with metaphor and imagination, enriching the discourse within her field. These illustrations serve as visual narratives, complementing and enhancing the written content of essays, articles, and book chapters. In her artistic career, she has also produced poems and lyrics, writing various songs for the projects At Freddy’s House and Pyroscaphe.

Susana de Noronha is described in the collections that hold this material as Susana de Noronha studied at University of Coimbra. The recorded working language is Portuguese, English and Spanish. The field of work recorded is anthropology and sociology. Employment is recorded with University of Minho, Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra and University of Coimbra. Distinctions recorded are Mulheres na Ciência, 30 Anos, 30 Antropólogos, Prémio CES para Jovens Cientistas Sociais de Língua Portuguesa and Prémio Bernardino Machado. Noronha was educated at University of Coimbra.

Noronha worked as anthropologist, sociologist, researcher and university teacher, and the authority record catalogues a further 3 occupations under the same name, among them illustrator, poet and lyricist. Noronha was employed by University of Minho, Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra, University of Coimbra and Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales. Noronha worked in Portuguese, English and Spanish.

The record carries the affiliation itself; it makes no claim about Noronha's standing within the field beyond what those bodies state.