The body as an intimate space

a phenomenological and hermeneutical perspective

Abstract

Aiming at contributing to the discussions about body and intimacy, this reflection of phenomenological and hermeneutical bases, structured on the notions of body, space and intimate space, dialogues with authors such as Heidegger, Binswanger, Alice Holzhey-Kunz, Bachelard and Beto Machado. Aware of the complexity and comprehensiveness of the theme of the body, this work, which seeks a different path from dualistic and subjectivist conceptions, establishes its core in the characterization of corporeity, as a way of being a constitutive element of Dasein. Nevertheless, it does not lose sight of other interlocutions, which, similarly to the idea of body as a task, enable the broadening of our perspectives. The spatiality, the second aspect of relevance in this research, is also characterized by heideggerian perspectives, opposite to the definitions of the natural world proposed by physics and geometry. Articulating with this topic and taking its place in this triad, the intimate space starts from the understanding of space tuned to encounter the notions of dwelling and building, as well as meeting the images of house and the notion of its proper familiarity. Finally, the proposition of a body as an intimate space, highlights a type of bodily experience arranged by an atmosphere of shelter and rest. In this sense, a kind of event that enables to experience the body in all its potentiality and indigence.