Rethinking the Body in Pain - revised version - Academia.edu
Scarry argues that severe physical pain has no referential content. Unlike hunger, grief, or fear—which have objects (food, a lost person, a threat)—pain is objectless . It resists expression in language, actively destroying a person’s ability to speak. When people in pain do speak, they often resort to inarticulate sounds or analogies (“it’s like a knife”), revealing that pain’s reality exists outside the structures of shared, propositional language. the body in pain elaine scarry pdf
Scarry examines how warfare uses the "ultimate substance" of the human body to substantiate political ideologies. In her view, the dead and wounded serve as a physical "testimony" to make abstract ideas feel real and true. “The Body in Pain”: An Interview with Elaine Scarry 2 Sept 2006 — Rethinking the Body in Pain - revised version - Academia