Recounts of pain: Conceptual metaphors in the construction of chronic pain by Chilean women

A BSTRACT : This study aims to determine the conceptualizations of pain associated with the chronic suffering of endometriosis based on the metaphorical uses related to pain identified in 30 interviews with patients of this gynaecological disease. The analysis included the identification of concordances, assisted by the Sketch Engine software, and the determination of the most frequent words. From the group of lexical units, two lemmas characteristic of this discourse were studied: pain and feeling, within the framework of 200 randomized concordances. Subsequently, and applying the proposal of the Cameron and Maslen's (2010) procedure, the metaphorical uses were identified and then categorized and interpreted according to the source domain in which they were contextualized in cognitive terms. In this way, metaphorical conceptualizations were established about the feelings of patients experiencing endometriosis and the types of pain that they communicate. Results indicate that the most frequent conceptualizations refer to types and intensities of pain, which imply a challenge for speakers. Besides, conceptual metaphors related to others' reactions towards endometriosis sufferers and to the construction of the effects of the pathology on their emotional state were identified. Conceptualizations refer to extreme intensities, lack of credibility perceived by the patients and feelings of << depersonalization >>. Unfortunately, all of them are aspects that these women must face daily, conceptualized in language through metaphors.