Writing the body: Scars, representation, and embodied narratives

2013

Sara DiRienzo
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307-766-2561

Individuals with large or visible scars are continuously called upon to chronicle the history of their bodies and experience an unusual narrative inscription onto their bodies. With each imagining, they consider the multiple influences upon their scarthe contributors to its story. When individuals harness the complexity of their scarring stories they act as scar-memoirists. A scar-memoirist collects the narratives of the scarred body from three distinct spheres of representation: self, medical, and public. The scar sits in the small overlap of each of these spheres, wherein all its narrative strands compile. Scar-memoirists move freely through these spheres, collecting narratives. Each sphere produces different representations of the scar and interacts with the others. It is up to the scar-memoirist to parse and compile the strands that eventually produce a complete artifact, written or visual, of the scarred body in an effort to regain narrative power.

scars, representation, disability theory, disability studies, memior

Conference presentations and posters presented

Consumers/Families, Professionals, Policymakers, Students

[email protected]

N/A