Book Review: Scarred: A feminist journey through pain

Scarred: A feminist journey through pain by L. Ayu Saraswati tells a story of how we can carry pain in a more humane, life-sustaining, enchanting and feminist way in our daily life. In the book, “pain” is used as “a theoretical hook on which all forms of trauma, suffering, not feeling/being well, being hurt, and being wounded (all of which may originate in the physical or psychological ─ not mutually exclusive) are all cautiously hung” (p. 5).

This is an interesting, insightful and rigorously argued book, consisting of seven chapters. Drawing on the author's own experience traveling across twenty countries within just over a year, it aims to invite readers to ponder and explore the answers to the important questions themselves, such as “How can I perceive differently?” (Chapter 3), “How can I work with my body to process pain?” (Chapter 4), “How can I practice feminist enchantment in my everyday life?” (Chapter 5), and “How does where I live matter to my pain?” (Chapter 6). These chapters are written without following any specific pattern. Instead, the author employs a rather unique and impressive style that spans multiple writing genres, including autoethnography, storytelling, and academic writing. In this approach, stories are merged and mixed up with traditional academic theories, making the content both appealing and thought-provoking. Written in the form of vignettes, the final chapter presents a refreshing writing style and effectively demonstrates that it is not the physical concept of “home” itself, but rather the state of homeostasis that serves as a site of healing. By challenging the normative writing convention in academia, somehow the author makes the prose more accessible for the public to understand.

By providing a new model of relating to pain as a transnational feminist object, the book delves into the relationship between pain and feminism, thus reframing our relationship with pain. Saraswati argues that “pain is to the body what its shell is to a hermit crab” (p. 6). This impressive hermit-crab-shell metaphor vividly illustrates how one “carries” pain with one's body, inspiring us to explore the possibility of finding a new shell to fit or discovering better ways to bear it, since “how we carry pain is socially constructed” (p. 7). Saraswati also contends that embracing pain can be integral to a feminist lifestyle. She views pain as an unreliable orienting tool that keeps us away from harm, yet does not tell us where to move to/toward. In her view, pain is an anamorphic apparatus that unveils aspects that were once concealed.

As an academic book, Scarred encompasses a broad spectrum of research fields, ranging from autoethnography to phenomenology and embodiment, while also delving into areas such as travel studies, transnational feminist studies, and pain studies. This extensive coverage not only enriches the diversity of theoretical perspectives but also makes significant methodological contributions. The book unveils the intricate ways in which power is generated and operates through the experience of pain, shedding light on how pain becomes intertwined and manifested within power dynamics. As a practical guide, this book regards pain as an inherent aspect of life and offers valuable insights on how to approach, experience, and navigate pain in our daily lives. It emphasizes that perception is not an isolated, individual thought but rather a product of social influences and dominant ideologies. By recognizing the influence of these ideologies on our perception and understanding, the book encourages self-reflection and prompts us to cultivate a different, more defiant perception that challenges power structures and the prevailing status quo, ultimately promoting our well-being and autonomy.

Nevertheless, this reviewer still has one small regret. As stated in the first chapter, Saraswati's conceptualization of pain emphasizes the dual utility of pain as both productive and referential, which challenges the previous articulations of pain that depict it as solely negative and nonreferential. If more additional details or examples could be elaborated or offered, it would be beneficial to enhance the persuasiveness and comprehensibility of the argument.

Overall, Scarred: A feminist journey through pain is an in-depth and innovative book that will be useful to social work practitioners, feminist readers, researchers, scholars and individuals interested in pain and power dynamics, body politics and gender issues. Additionally, it will benefit those seeking to understand the intersection of pain with social structures and those seeking personal growth and societal transformation.