Pain and its socio-cultural dimension
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 3:22 am
Hi folks.
Jimco wanaagsan to all of you.
As a diaspora somali, chances are that you are familiar with expressions such as “Beerka ayaa I xanuunaya ( I have pain in the liver”! Waran ayaa igu taagan ( I have a spear on my body” ) when you ask someone about his/her health.
You have probably worked as an interpreter where ethics require you to translate all the words that are uttered by both parties. In many cases that involve Somali interpreters born outside Somalia the sentence “lost in translation” is not a cliché.
There are some urban legends of the poor interpretations/translations or the literal translations/interpretations which is perhaps the best term; Who has not heard about ; Naagteeyda waan furay which is interpreted into “ I opened my wife” or lugaha ayaay iga jartay/lugooyso interpreted into “ she cut my legs”
Pain and how we communicate it is something worth discussing.
For the waayeel (caaqil) Somali mind, I have pain in the liver could mean anything from menstrual pains to bowl difficulties; any pain between the legs to the throat. The phrase I have a spear on my body could mean anything from muscle inflammation to internal organ pain to psychosomatic diseases.
From a biological standpoint, the concept of pain is usually defined as meaning physiological malfunction or the signalling mechanism that draws attention to the presence of tissue damage that is caused by a internal or external noxious stimulus of the nerve. There is also a psychological dimension to pain which is difficult to conceptualize but perhaps easier to treat (e.g. mental diseases) .
Unarguably, pain is an inseparable part of our lives and obviously one of the commonest symptoms of clinical practice because medical officials always ask patients about the manner and location of pain. Furthermore, many remedies to offsetting pains paradoxically also involve exerting pain; biopsies, injections, Surgical operations etc.
A few days ago your correspondent met an old friend who he had not seen in ages. He lives in Stockholm and is what you may call a loner. He never integrates with somalis except when someone dies. He lives with a blond Finnish woman. They have two kids. He is very educated and has a well paying job. If you speak to him for more than 3 minutes you will discover that he is a student of Marx. He uses Hegelian dialectics to explain the problems of our nation and somalis. He was educated in the Ukraine and probably was exposed to Marxism. Imperialism, social evolution, manifesto etc are some of the words you will hear during a five minute conversation.
Although he rarely meets somalis for fadhi-ku-dirir discourse or what I term as “therapeutic sessions” he has maintained a good command of the Somali language and teaches his kids Somali and Somali culture.
During our conversation the other day we discussed as usual some of the problems and challenges that our nation faces. In his mind, the cause of our quandary is MONEY. Imperialism uses money to enslave the minds of people was his thesis.
After a few minutes, I enquired about his state of health because I noticed that he was experiencing some pain in his back; he turns around and says “ saaxibow waran ayaa beryahan igu taagan). This caught me off guard because if anyone knows about the human physiology/anatomy, it should be him! He is not only educated but also works in the medical field.
My friend’s sudden outburst of “the spear in his body” prompted me to do some thinking not only about how we describe pain but also how we view our bodies and describes changes to it.
Unlike the biological view of the body as being just a physical organism that fluctuates between health and illnesses, social and behavioural scientists view it as socially and physiologically constructed. The human body’s structure and function is a cultural entity that is acquired when we grow up in a particular family, culture etc which manifests itself in variations in which the description of pain could come in many shapes and forms.
One example that shows this array is how we describe the shape and size of our bodies when we want to communicate information about it. Or how we relate the body to its owner.. For instance, while the word obesity in the western context is seen as a significant health problem and carries social stigma- the obese is viewed as a weak soul who falls for gluttony and sloth- in many societies obesity is viewed as the result of well being.
How we behave when we experience pain – in particular the voluntary aspect of pain- is certainly influenced by cultural, social and physiological factors which determine how we relay it. Yes, physical pain could be vividly and emotionally laden symptom but it is important that we understand the cultural context. From a Somali perspective the cultural context could include the lack of knowledge about human anatomy and the path-dependent nature of some words; In addition from a medical perspective metaphors conceal the mere fact that people are generally shy to mention some pains; how many Somali women will dare say they are menstruating? How many men will admit that they have constipation? Instead, the finger is pointed at the abdomen, bowl or the back.
What is however worth thinking about is how the “beer” liver is used to portray pain; the liver substitutes for emotional pain e.g. unreturned love, menstrual pains, ulcers . I think this is a Somali thing. In many societies that I have visited the heart is the epicentre of “emotional pains” .
Jimco wanaagsan to all of you.
As a diaspora somali, chances are that you are familiar with expressions such as “Beerka ayaa I xanuunaya ( I have pain in the liver”! Waran ayaa igu taagan ( I have a spear on my body” ) when you ask someone about his/her health.
You have probably worked as an interpreter where ethics require you to translate all the words that are uttered by both parties. In many cases that involve Somali interpreters born outside Somalia the sentence “lost in translation” is not a cliché.
There are some urban legends of the poor interpretations/translations or the literal translations/interpretations which is perhaps the best term; Who has not heard about ; Naagteeyda waan furay which is interpreted into “ I opened my wife” or lugaha ayaay iga jartay/lugooyso interpreted into “ she cut my legs”
Pain and how we communicate it is something worth discussing.
For the waayeel (caaqil) Somali mind, I have pain in the liver could mean anything from menstrual pains to bowl difficulties; any pain between the legs to the throat. The phrase I have a spear on my body could mean anything from muscle inflammation to internal organ pain to psychosomatic diseases.
From a biological standpoint, the concept of pain is usually defined as meaning physiological malfunction or the signalling mechanism that draws attention to the presence of tissue damage that is caused by a internal or external noxious stimulus of the nerve. There is also a psychological dimension to pain which is difficult to conceptualize but perhaps easier to treat (e.g. mental diseases) .
Unarguably, pain is an inseparable part of our lives and obviously one of the commonest symptoms of clinical practice because medical officials always ask patients about the manner and location of pain. Furthermore, many remedies to offsetting pains paradoxically also involve exerting pain; biopsies, injections, Surgical operations etc.
A few days ago your correspondent met an old friend who he had not seen in ages. He lives in Stockholm and is what you may call a loner. He never integrates with somalis except when someone dies. He lives with a blond Finnish woman. They have two kids. He is very educated and has a well paying job. If you speak to him for more than 3 minutes you will discover that he is a student of Marx. He uses Hegelian dialectics to explain the problems of our nation and somalis. He was educated in the Ukraine and probably was exposed to Marxism. Imperialism, social evolution, manifesto etc are some of the words you will hear during a five minute conversation.
Although he rarely meets somalis for fadhi-ku-dirir discourse or what I term as “therapeutic sessions” he has maintained a good command of the Somali language and teaches his kids Somali and Somali culture.
During our conversation the other day we discussed as usual some of the problems and challenges that our nation faces. In his mind, the cause of our quandary is MONEY. Imperialism uses money to enslave the minds of people was his thesis.
After a few minutes, I enquired about his state of health because I noticed that he was experiencing some pain in his back; he turns around and says “ saaxibow waran ayaa beryahan igu taagan). This caught me off guard because if anyone knows about the human physiology/anatomy, it should be him! He is not only educated but also works in the medical field.
My friend’s sudden outburst of “the spear in his body” prompted me to do some thinking not only about how we describe pain but also how we view our bodies and describes changes to it.
Unlike the biological view of the body as being just a physical organism that fluctuates between health and illnesses, social and behavioural scientists view it as socially and physiologically constructed. The human body’s structure and function is a cultural entity that is acquired when we grow up in a particular family, culture etc which manifests itself in variations in which the description of pain could come in many shapes and forms.
One example that shows this array is how we describe the shape and size of our bodies when we want to communicate information about it. Or how we relate the body to its owner.. For instance, while the word obesity in the western context is seen as a significant health problem and carries social stigma- the obese is viewed as a weak soul who falls for gluttony and sloth- in many societies obesity is viewed as the result of well being.
How we behave when we experience pain – in particular the voluntary aspect of pain- is certainly influenced by cultural, social and physiological factors which determine how we relay it. Yes, physical pain could be vividly and emotionally laden symptom but it is important that we understand the cultural context. From a Somali perspective the cultural context could include the lack of knowledge about human anatomy and the path-dependent nature of some words; In addition from a medical perspective metaphors conceal the mere fact that people are generally shy to mention some pains; how many Somali women will dare say they are menstruating? How many men will admit that they have constipation? Instead, the finger is pointed at the abdomen, bowl or the back.
What is however worth thinking about is how the “beer” liver is used to portray pain; the liver substitutes for emotional pain e.g. unreturned love, menstrual pains, ulcers . I think this is a Somali thing. In many societies that I have visited the heart is the epicentre of “emotional pains” .
