The body in pain : the making and unmaking of the world

Part philosophical meditation, part cultural critique, The Body in Pain is a profoundly original study that has already stirred excitement in a wide range of intellectual circles. The book is an analysis of physical suffering and its relation to the numerous vocabularies and cultural forces--literary, political, philosophical, medical, religious--that confront it. Elaine Scarry bases her study on a wide range of sources: literature and art, medical case histories, documents on torture compiled by Amnesty International, legal transcripts of personal injury trials, and military and strategic writings by such figures as Clausewitz, Churchill, Liddell Hart, and Kissinger, She weaves these into her discussion with an eloquence, humanity, and insight that recall the writings of Hannah Arendt and Jean-Paul Sartre. Scarry begins with the fact of pain's inexpressibility. Not only is physical pain enormously difficult to describe in words--confronted with it, Virginia Woolf once noted, "language runs dry"--it also actively destroys language, reducing sufferers in the most extreme instances to an inarticulate state of cries and moans. Scarry analyzes the political ramifications of deliberately inflicted pain, specifically in the cases of torture and warfare, and shows how to be fictive. From these actions of "unmaking" Scarry turns finally to the actions of "making"--the examples of artistic and cultural creation that work against pain and the debased uses that are made of it. Challenging and inventive, The Body in Pain is landmark work that promises to spark widespread debate. Scarry analyzes physical pain within numerous contexts by transcripts to Amnesty International documents. Part Philosophical Meditation, Part Cultural Critique, This Work Explores The Nature Of Physical Suffering. Elaine Scarry Bases Her Study On A Wide Range Of Sources: Literature And Art, Medical Case Histories, Documents On Torture Compiled By Amnesty International, Legal Transcripts Of Personal Injury Trials, And Military And Strategic Writings By Such Figures As Clausewitz, Churchill, Liddell Hart, And Henry Kissinger. Scarry Begins With The Fact Of Pain's Inexpressibility. Not Only Is Physical Pain Difficult To Describe In Words, It Also Actively Destroys Language, Reducing Sufferers In The Most Extreme Cases To An Inarticulate State Of Cries And Moans. Scarry Goes On To Analyse The Political Ramifications Of Deliberately Inflicted Pain, Specifically In The Cases Of Warfare And Torture, And She Demonstrates How Political Regimes Use The Power Of Physical Pain To Attack And Break Down The Sufferer's Sense Of Self. Finally She Turns To Examples Of Artistic And Cultural Activity; Actions Achieved In The Face Of Pain And Difficulty. Structure Of Torture : The Conversion Of Real Pain Into The Fiction Power -- The Structure Of War : The Juxtaposition Of Injured Bodies And Unanchored Issues -- Pain And Imaging -- The Structure Of Belief And Its Modulation Into Material Making : Body And Voice In The Judeo-christian Scriptures And The Writings Of Marx -- The Interior Structure Of The Artifact. Elaine Scarry. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 327-372) And Index. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 3 CONTENTS......Page 7 INTRODUCTION......Page 11 PART ONE: UNMAKING......Page 33 1 THE STRUCTURE OF TORTURE......Page 35 2 THE STRUCTURE OF WAR......Page 68 PART TWO: MAKING ......Page 167 3 PAIN AND IMAGINING......Page 169 4 THE STRUCTURE OF BELIEF ANDITS MODULATION INTOMATERIAL MAKING......Page 189 5 THE INTERIOR STRUCTURE OFTHE ARTIFACT......Page 286 NOTES......Page 335 INDEX......Page 381 NOWHERE is the sadistic potential of a language built on agency so visible as in torture.