ABSTRACT
Whatever else it may be, self-harm is a naked appeal. The act of self-harm renders skin a deeply eloquent form of testimony, where a plea is made for social recognition. Indeed, the signature cuts and scars of self-harmed skin do nothing less than ‘scream out’ for this reckoning. It would seem, then, that bearing witness to self-mutilated skin should be only a matter of listening to this ‘voice’; a simple response. Yet there is something particularly hard to witness here, something which makes contemplating the testimony of self-cut skin anything but simple. Indeed, it would seem that the act of harming one’s own skin by cutting it up and tearing it apart speaks with a ‘voice’ so sheer that it is virtually impossible for anyone to bear witness to it. Arguably, then, there is something about this ‘voice’ that defies witnessing, even as it insistently demands it; a not-so-simple response. Thus, I would suggest that the testimony of self-cut skin raises two questions: What is the nature of self-cut skin such that it is difficult to bear witness to? What is the nature of witnessing such that there is a resistance in the testimonial project of self-cut skin? The aim of this chapter is to address these questions.
