- Overview
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This book takes an in-depth look into people who endure with everything they have and the people at their side in a thoughtful and cautious language.
- Book Intro
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(French) Peut-on partager la souffrance ?
La société coréenne a longtemps endigué le fait de parler de la souffrance. C’est pourquoi, ceux qui souffraient voulaient la cacher sans pouvoir l’exprimer par la bouche. Cependant, les gens dans la souffrance commencent à dire que l’absence d’une souffrance veut dire un « état anormal ». Comme le point de vue de base qui perçoit l’Homme et la société commence à changer, le fait de parler de la souffrance est le signe d’un bon tournant.
(English) Can Pain be Shared?
"Pain" is a topic of study for many humanities and social science researchers. From studies about the aftermath of Auschwitz to Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag, examining the severe and brutal sides of human lives has been a continuous endeavor.
Korea's most noted sociologist, Uhm Kiho, describes his theory of pain based on this tradition. He approaches pain not only as a social phenomenon but with a wider definition including the individual pain people often experience, such as from divorce, disease and death. However, unlike other pain theorists, he also focuses on the "companions of pain" in addition to what an individual suffers. As a researcher who looks at the society and relationships, he developed a map that includes pain itself as well as what surrounds it.
In fact, it is difficult to express pain in society. Pain is a subject of embarrassment, and it is easy to be regarded as weak for expressing pain. This has led people suffering pain to do their best to hide it and to the failure of the Korean language to develop proper words to express pain. Many people who have suffered pain have had to undergo the hardship without even the words to express what they feel.
But nowadays, those who suffer pain can claim that it's a life without pain that is not "normal." They have begun to say that pain is constantly present. From the perspective of changing people's reference point for viewing society, any mention of pain is a good sign. This is mainly because people are more likely to be prepared to listen and respond to pain if it is constantly present in our surroundings rather than suppress, isolate or remove people who are suffering.
However, are we properly handling this situation? Are we simply displaying and consuming pain just to boost our social status under the guise of love and justice? Is pain causing the collapse of sufferers and their protectors as well? This book is a map that highlights the landscape of pain in our present era, which is stacked in multiple layers.
- About the Author
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Uhm Kiho
After graduating from college, Uhm Kiho (M) learned how to understand the sufferings in the field through the language of human rights by working at international organizations in various fields around the world. After acquiring a Ph.D in culturology from Yonsei University, he began a his life as a researcher. Books he has written include Why Is this not Youth, Teachers are also Afraid of Schools, and Crackdown Society.
Lee Sunil
- Recommendation
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Naramal (National Korean Literature Teachers
Naramal (National Korean Literature Teachers
Peace Salon Red Books, 2019, Recommended book
- Selection
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Peace Library Namu, 2018, Peace Book of the Year
The Korean Publishing Journal, 2019, Book of the Month