Scars as Cartography: Bodily Commemorations and Memorials

Keywords: cartography, mappings, scars, body, bodily, bodily cartographies,
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

This paper seeks to study the interdependence of scars and memory to the newly emergent field of bodily cartography, specifically investigating the dynamic between scars and the spatially situated memories they preserve, produce, and commemorate within and through the body. This research argues that scars are a form of bodily cartography which map, mark, inscribe, and pinpoint the experiences of our spatial movements through time, location, and emotion. Whether from accident, medical necessity, conflict, or self-infliction, scars link us to space and place-based memories. Scars bind our physical being with the spaces and places we have inhabited and retain them even after they have gone or have been radically transformed over the years. Scars are renderings of history, an incontestable marker. While in most cases scars are kept hidden purposefully or are naturally concealed, the images and storytelling exposed through visible scarring become a visual form of history and specific forms of brutality, trauma, resistance, and celebration.