372 RüdigerKunow
1.Avariablyunpleasantsensationassociatedwithactualorpotentialtiss
uedamageand
mediatedbyspecificnervefiberstothebrainwhereitsconsciousappreci
ationmaybe
modifiedbyvariousfactors.
2.Termusedtodenoteapainfuluterinecontractionoccurringinchildbir
th.("Pain,"MedicalDictionaryOnlinen.pag.)[Pain is] an unpleasant sensation caused by noxious stimulation of the
sensory nerve endings. It is a subjective feeling and an individual
responsetothecause.Painisacardinalsymptomofinflammationandis
valuable in the diagnosis of many disorders and conditions. It may be
mild or severe, chronic or acute, lancinating, burning, dull or sharp,
precisely or poorly localized, or referred. Experiencing pain is
influenced by physical, mental, biochemical, psychological,
physiological, social, cultural, and emotional factors. See also acute
pain,chronicpain,referredpain."(Mosby'sMedicalDictionary1312)In medical contexts of diagnosis and therapy, then, pain is by and
largeseen asa "condition"which is atthe sametime asign,"a cardinal
symptom" of bodily malfunction. This juncture of the somatic and the
semantic will likewise guide the analysis offered in the pages that
follow—but with a different emphasis. "Suffering" is a closely related
term and would likewise do for most of the uses intended here.
However, using it here would at times require awkward linguistic
manoevers because of its implied reference to a source: sufferingfrom
something or somebody's actions. Pain does not carry that additional
reference;itcanequallydenoteindividualaswellascollectivestatesof
wretchednessandhasalonghistoryofusages.
In the understanding that will guide the following analysis, pain
denotes moments ofcriticalembodiment, when sensations produced by
corporeal conditions move to the forefront of attention, that of the
person"inpain"orothersaroundhimorher.Furtheralongtheline,pain
can then be shown to enervate basic issues concerning the relationship
between body and mind, self and other, language and world, even art
and life. This may also be the reason why the question whether the