Rolling with Pain – A Sociological Investigation Into the Meaning-Making of Physical Pain
(2023) SOCM04 20231Department of Sociology
Sociology
- Abstract
- In this thesis, I investigate the experience of physical pain. Through an analysis and assessment of the data in the form of qualitative interviews collected for this thesis, the aim has been to show that meaning-making is fundamental to our experience of (physical) pain. At its core, this thesis contends that physical pain can not be reduced to physiological stimuli and that an investigation must consider not what pain is, but how pain is experienced and also, what pain does. In order to tackle the dynamics of pain, this thesis focuses on the empirical case of skateboarding. The methodology of this thesis draws on insights from phenomenology, both in choices of point of departure in relation to collected data, and as a way of accessing... (More)
- In this thesis, I investigate the experience of physical pain. Through an analysis and assessment of the data in the form of qualitative interviews collected for this thesis, the aim has been to show that meaning-making is fundamental to our experience of (physical) pain. At its core, this thesis contends that physical pain can not be reduced to physiological stimuli and that an investigation must consider not what pain is, but how pain is experienced and also, what pain does. In order to tackle the dynamics of pain, this thesis focuses on the empirical case of skateboarding. The methodology of this thesis draws on insights from phenomenology, both in choices of point of departure in relation to collected data, and as a way of accessing the data. The theoretical threshold follows this phenomenological vein paving the way for theoretical insights of author and scholar Sara Ahmed, namely her conceptualization of intensification, resurfacing and (re)orientation. The research showcases how and why the respondents experience pain the way they do. It finds that when a painful experience is experienced it sets in motion a meaning-making process through which pain is assessed through a multitude of factors such as narration, past experiences, feeling states, and more, prompting a (re)orientation of the body. Through this process pain, firstly, comes to be experienced as pain, and, secondly, is ascribed value and meaningful or meaningless meaning. I conclude by arguing that the way physical pain is experienced depends on the meaning ascribed to it through this process of meaning making. In a final discussion I consider claims of societal algophobia. I argue that both the pain experienced by the respondents, as well as their utilization of this pain is radical, as it breaks with the in-difference of an algophobic society in the way it produces difference as it shapes and reshapes surfaces, bodies and borders, i.e. worlds. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- In this thesis, I investigate the experience of physical pain. The aim of this thesis is to show how meaning-making is fundamental to our experience of (physical) pain. At its core, this thesis finds that physical pain can not be reduced to physiological stimuli, but that how pain is experienced – if it is even experienced as pain – depends on the meaning ascribed to it.
In order to tackle the dynamics of pain, this research focuses on the empirical data of people who have experience with skateboarding. It takes its offset in skateboarding because the practice is poised interestingly at the junction between professional sport and leisure activity.
The data stems from interviews of a dozen respondents who have experience with... (More) - In this thesis, I investigate the experience of physical pain. The aim of this thesis is to show how meaning-making is fundamental to our experience of (physical) pain. At its core, this thesis finds that physical pain can not be reduced to physiological stimuli, but that how pain is experienced – if it is even experienced as pain – depends on the meaning ascribed to it.
In order to tackle the dynamics of pain, this research focuses on the empirical data of people who have experience with skateboarding. It takes its offset in skateboarding because the practice is poised interestingly at the junction between professional sport and leisure activity.
The data stems from interviews of a dozen respondents who have experience with skateboarding and the data is treated through a phenomenological lens using feminist thinker Sara Ahmed’s theories.
The research connects the painful sensation experienced within skateboarding with the way the respondents weave narratives about themselves and skateboarding. These narratives are centered on or underpinned by their experiences of pain. The paper finds that there is an interplay between narrative through which pain is understood and how pain is contextually experienced. From narratives, the paper then turns to the body and maps the concrete realities of being a skating body in pain using Ahmed’s concepts of impression and surfaces to further illustrate the experience of pain. This section argues that the experience of pain and the way in which this experience mutates is central to the respondents' pain perception, self-conception and even broader worldviews.
In the final section, this thesis considers German philosopher Byung Chul Han and his claim that contemporary society suffers from societal algophobia (the fear of pain) and an obsession with the palliative (the numbing of pain). Via Han, this paper concludes that both the pain experienced by the respondents, as well as their utilization of this pain is radical. Radical in the sense that the experience of pain radically changes the way the respondents perceive themselves and their world-view thus breaking with the in-difference of an algophobic society. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9140329
- author
- Lorentsen, Sofie Grann LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOCM04 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- pain, physical-pain, meaning-making, phenomenology, Sara Ahmed
- language
- English
- id
- 9140329
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-26 16:44:26
- date last changed
- 2023-10-26 16:44:26
@misc{9140329,
abstract = {{In this thesis, I investigate the experience of physical pain. Through an analysis and assessment of the data in the form of qualitative interviews collected for this thesis, the aim has been to show that meaning-making is fundamental to our experience of (physical) pain. At its core, this thesis contends that physical pain can not be reduced to physiological stimuli and that an investigation must consider not what pain is, but how pain is experienced and also, what pain does. In order to tackle the dynamics of pain, this thesis focuses on the empirical case of skateboarding. The methodology of this thesis draws on insights from phenomenology, both in choices of point of departure in relation to collected data, and as a way of accessing the data. The theoretical threshold follows this phenomenological vein paving the way for theoretical insights of author and scholar Sara Ahmed, namely her conceptualization of intensification, resurfacing and (re)orientation. The research showcases how and why the respondents experience pain the way they do. It finds that when a painful experience is experienced it sets in motion a meaning-making process through which pain is assessed through a multitude of factors such as narration, past experiences, feeling states, and more, prompting a (re)orientation of the body. Through this process pain, firstly, comes to be experienced as pain, and, secondly, is ascribed value and meaningful or meaningless meaning. I conclude by arguing that the way physical pain is experienced depends on the meaning ascribed to it through this process of meaning making. In a final discussion I consider claims of societal algophobia. I argue that both the pain experienced by the respondents, as well as their utilization of this pain is radical, as it breaks with the in-difference of an algophobic society in the way it produces difference as it shapes and reshapes surfaces, bodies and borders, i.e. worlds.}},
author = {{Lorentsen, Sofie Grann}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Rolling with Pain – A Sociological Investigation Into the Meaning-Making of Physical Pain}},
year = {{2023}},
}