The Abject Embodiment of Cancer Patients: Dignity, Selfhood, and the Grotesque Body
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2002
Abstract
The body is the empirical quintessence of the self. Because selfhood is symbolic, embodiment represents the personification and materialization of otherwise invisible qualities of personhood. The body and experiences of embodiment are central to our sense of being, who we think we are, and what others attribute to us. What happens, then, when one's body is humiliating? How does the self handle the implications of a gruesome body? How do people manage selfhood in light of grotesque physical appearances? This study explores these questions in the experiences of dying cancer patients and seeks to better understand relationships among body, self, and situated social interaction.
Department
Sociology and Corrections
Publication Title
Symbolic Interaction
Recommended Citation
Dennis Waskul and Pamela van der Riet. 2002. "The Abject Embodiment of Cancer Patients: Dignity, Selfhood, and the Grotesque Body." Symbolic Interaction, 25 (4): 487-513.
DOI
10.1525/si.2002.25.4.487
Link to Publisher Version (DOI)
Publisher's Copyright and Source
Copyright © 2002 the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. Article published by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction/John Wiley & Sons in Symbolic Interaction, volume 25, issue number 4, November 2002, pages 487-513. Available online on December 22, 2011: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/si.2002.25.4.487
