Am I fine?

Woven into the fabric of human existence is the possibility of death and suffering from disease. This essential vulnerability calls forth processes of meaning making, of grappling with uncertainty and morality. In this article we explore the uncertainty and ambiguity that exists in the space between...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMedicine Anthropology Theory Vol. 3; no. 3
Main Authors Offersen, Sara Marie Hebsgaard, Risør, Mette Bech, Vedsted, Peter, Andersen, Rikke Sand
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published University of Edinburgh Library 06.11.2020
Subjects
denmark
potentiality
sensations
symptoms
uncertainty
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Summary:Woven into the fabric of human existence is the possibility of death and suffering from disease. This essential vulnerability calls forth processes of meaning making, of grappling with uncertainty and morality. In this article we explore the uncertainty and ambiguity that exists in the space between bodily sensations and symptoms of illness. Bodily sensations have the potential to become symptoms of disease or to be absorbed into ordinariness, prompting the question: how do we ascribe meaning to sensations? In the context of middle-class everyday life in Denmark, we show how different potentialities of ambiguous sensations are weighed against each other on a culturally and morally contingent continuum between normal and not normal, uncovering the complex interplay between the body, everyday life, and pervasive biomedical discourses focusing on health promotion, symptom awareness, and care seeking.
ISSN:2405-691X
2405-691X
DOI:10.17157/mat.3.3.392