Il Malato e l’Immaginario. La malattia da segno di elezione a nuova forma di moralizzazione

Abstract

Illness and Imagery. Desease as a sign of election to a new form of moralization. An analysis from the point of view of sociology of culture. The ways and forms in which evil is represented and perceived in a human community are the result of a complex social construction. Relevant meaning shifts can occur if only the reference imagery changes. E. g., the entire symbolic system of the never-ending struggle between good and evil becomes a mine of meanings where men of all time can find moral values that give sense to their existences (Alexander, 2006). Within this peculiar narrative, a prime role is played by the different universes of meaning that inform the relationship between man and disease (see Fleck 1983; Foucault, 1969 and 1992). The ways in which different social configurations contrast « eschatological anxiety » (Kermode, 1972: 113) caused by the illness are valid indicators of the broader changes in the imagery: disease as a sign of election (premodern society), or as an enemy to be defeated (modern society), to illness as a new form of moralization (contemporary society) (Camorrino, 2015a). The aim of this paper is to investigate this gradual and complex process.