Jorie Hofstra

In my present research, I study discourses of the brain-self relationship: specifically, how the narrative negotiation of selfhood proceeds when the brain has been injured in a way that produces disruptive socio-emotional events.

 

Among the many socio-emotional sequelae of brain injury, anger stands out as especially challenging to the construction of a recovered or recovering self. Analyzing accounts of post-injury anger by people with brain injuries and their social partners allows me to elaborate our knowledge of illness representations, to intervene in the debates over the degree to which brainhood dominates our conception of selfhood, and to contribute to our understanding of anger, one of the least-studied emotions.