De-Privatizing Self-Harm: Remembering the Social Self in How to Forget

Area of Science:

• Film Studies
• Disability Studies
• Queer Theory
• Psychoanalysis
• Sociology of Medicine

Background:

• Self-harm is often viewed solely through a pathological lens.
• Malu De Martino's 2010 film "How to Forget" presents a complex portrayal of self-harm.
• Existing theoretical frameworks may not fully capture the expressive and self-inquiry aspects of self-harm.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze "How to Forget" as a case study of self-harm as expression and self-inquiry.
• To develop a "crip" epistemology of self-harm.
• To theorize a "social self" through the film's depiction of self-harm.

Main Methods:

• Close reading of Malu De Martino's film "How to Forget".
• Application of concepts from disability theory, queer theory, psychoanalysis, and sociology of medicine.
• Theoretical analysis of self-harm as a mode of expression and self-inquiry.

Main Results:

• The film "How to Forget" models a "crip" epistemology of self-harm.
• The film theorizes a "social self" through its exploration of self-harm.
• Self-harm in the film offers a coalitional and social therapeutic understanding.

Conclusions:

• Practices of "knowing-with" or "knowing-in-relation" can be understood as "cripistemology".
• This "cripistemology" has potential applications in therapeutic, research, and lay contexts.
• The film provides a valuable lens for understanding self-harm beyond purely clinical perspectives.