The Culture of Pain

by David B. Morris

This is a book about the meanings we make out of pain. The greatest surprise I encountered in discussing this topic over the past ten years was the consistency with which I was asked a single unvarying question: Are you writing about physical pain or mental pain? The overwhelming consistency of this response convinces me that modern culture rests upon an underlying belief so strong that it grips us with the force of a founding myth. Call it the Myth of Two Pains. We live in an era when many people believe--as a basic, unexamined foundation of thought--that pain comes divided into separate types: physical and mental. These two types of pain, so the myth goes, are as different as land and sea. You feel physical pain if your arm breaks, and you feel mental pain if your heart breaks. Between these two different events we seem to imagine a gulf so wide and deep that it might as well be filled by a sea that is impossible to navigate.   

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Disability, Sociology, History, Medicine, Theory

356 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 1991

Reviews

[Jamieanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

an early [1991] exemplar of the intersection of literature&medicine, and medical humanities; however, disorganized and historically imprecise. Conflates pain & disability.

[Max Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiene algunas reflexiones y referencias interesantes, pero el análisis carece de cohesión y hoy en día no resulta muy novedoso, especialmente para alguien dentro de la medicina. Lo poco que leí de Le Breton era mucho mas estimulante.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is doubtlessly a thought-provoking book that asks many important questions on pain and explores myths about pain that endures untill today. However, I did not enjoy Morris's twirling writing style and strucutre. As for the content, initially I was not completely convinced when he argues that "pain comes into existence only at the moment when it makes its way into our consciousness. Without the mind's contribution, there is no pain" (160) after he using "twilight sleep" as an example. However, it was after some medidation time after finishing the whole book that I realised that my initial resistance towards his argument is exactly due to my entrenchment in the "orthodoxical" understanding of pain under the away of the 18th Century biomedical paradigm of organic orgin. What I really enjoyed about this book is his wide-ranging selection of paintings and literary texts for case studies. I would love to hear more about his analysis on the changing meaning of pain and beauty in modernism though.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book which asks a lot of the same questions I'm still asking today as a mental health therapist who frequently deals with the experience of pain in multicultural settings. This book goes of course beyond what has commonly been referred to as "cultural competency," however, and expands into the fallacy that pain belongs exclusively to the realm of biomedical science. If anyone was ever to create an updated version of this book or pick-up the topic, I hope they move beyond some of the Eurocentrism.

[La]

Rudimentary in ones beginning to think and rethink pain. As someone who has had chronic pain for 8 years I cannot explain the feeling of seeing my experience reflected back to me so accurately in Morris’ words (despite pain being impervious to language), and the words of all the wonderful thinkers he referenced! + to be completely honest this book has been sort of life changing
A great starting point I think!

[Brenda]

Llegué hasta la mitad pero ponele que lo leí todo. La verdad que la premisa me había gustado mucho pero parecía eterno el libro y desactualizado, finalmente no le podía tomar nada en serio.
Espero que el 2026 me traiga mejores lecturas 🎆❤️

[themistyugly · Rating 3 out of 5]

take some notes disney xx

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read "The Culture of Pain" in 2004. It was life-changing for me. I've just reread it. I find it amazing that 29 years after it was first published it holds up so well. Morris' voice is authentic and gives strength to those with pain and their care givers

[Jessica Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn. I wish I WROTE this book.