The daily drama of the body
The daily drama of the body
‘Illness narratives’ are the stories people tell about the human experience of illness and suffering. Because the people inside sick bodies usually don't experience themselves as sick, a distancing occurs: they observe the behaviour of their bodies, and construct accounts of this behaviour. The body's entertainment is about creating reality. The chapter argues that people should be experts on their own bodies because such personal knowledge is especially necessary in chronic illness. Also, the profound iatrogenic effect of the perfect body project is a sickness of its own. This chapter concludes by suggesting that a way of putting illness in its place is to explore it in order to learn more about the human condition.
Keywords: illness narratives, chronic illness, human condition, human experience, bodies
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