La (no) metáfora del cuerpo. Cuerpo abusado, cuerpo torturado, cuerpo transfigurado*

Abstract

The article investigates the subject of the body from the experience of human suffering. Suffering constitutes a dimension that surpasses any writing about it and fractures discursive and theoretical approaches. However, it is essential to take the risk in view of hope. For this reason, this text inquires about the suffering caused by abuse and torture. We understand the body as a place free of metaphors, a place where memory, resistance and hope go beyond a rational approach. The body, as an excess of meaning, is also a territory and a membrane where the other is welcomed or rejected. Therefore, theology and ethics are challenged to rethink bodily reality in the face of true compassion. The body is also the place where trust and language reveal the complexity of the abused body. The ecclesial and social news have questioned the practices and discourses of the suffering body. Sexual abuse, the abuse of power and conscience, are not marginal realities. From a phenomenological reading, we wonder about the possibility of continuing with life and the role of religious beliefs after having suffered the unspeakable. For this purpose, we have studied different cases and a documentary analysis. We investigate some characteristics of the human being and Christ, as the Messiah who cries and consoles. Christian hope in the face of God-in-the-flesh-crucified can allow suffering bodies to recover. This article assumes the radical difficulty that suffering imposes when thinking, saying, and continuing to live.