Discourse Communities and the Language of Pain

30 Pages Posted: 26 Nov 2009

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 25, 2009

Abstract

Pain is a private and subjective experience that when communicated, is limited by a language that requires the speaker to transform the internal into the external through the use of modifiers, metaphors, and metonymies. This language of pain is then implemented in many discussions between doctor and patient, friends and family members, and many other discourse communities with varied motivations. In the present article, I will be discussing at some length, the differences between these communities, their motivations, and the ways they discuss and describe the sensation we as English speakers refer to as pain.

Keywords: speech community, socio-rhetorical discourse community, modifier, qualia, spatiotemporal, somatosensory, BDSM

Suggested Citation

Schartman, Samantha, Discourse Communities and the Language of Pain (November 25, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1513691 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1513691

Samantha Schartman (Contact Author)

Case Western Reserve University ( email )

10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106-7068
United States
(216)990-4267 (Phone)

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