The Body, the Flesh, and the Hospital
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Published:December 2023
This chapter investigates the role of the body and the hospital in wounding and healing in eastern Congo. Where material possessions and food security are so fleeting, the body is both one's dearest and most vulnerable asset. Because the line between life and death is so thin in Congo, hospitals have risen in prominence, often serving as focal points through which social and economic activity are brokered. However, due to an absence of running water, electricity, and essential supplies within its walls, the hospital in eastern Congo often fails to provide physical healing. Rather, as it bears witness to the screams and the dreams of the population, it teaches endurance, witnesses pain, and stokes visions of presents otherwise, in which people and things can be counted on, in which life is less fragile.
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