Abstract
Illness and recovery transform embodied experience, and transform the
experience of space. Space, in turn, is a valuable resource in the telling of
an illness narrative. Starting from a phenomenological perspective that
takes the body to be the centre of experience, and hence of selfhood and
storytelling, this paper offers an argument for and an approach to
analysing space as a narrative resource in stories about illness and
recovery. Using a case study of one woman’s stories about her amputation,
it demonstrates how both narrated space and narrating space can be used
as devices to structure the narrative and position its characters and
interlocutors to construct the narrator’s embodied experiences and
identities. The paper reveals intersections between embodied experience,
space, and narrative identity construction, offering a new way of attending
to illness narratives and a new way of engaging with narrative space.
experience of space. Space, in turn, is a valuable resource in the telling of
an illness narrative. Starting from a phenomenological perspective that
takes the body to be the centre of experience, and hence of selfhood and
storytelling, this paper offers an argument for and an approach to
analysing space as a narrative resource in stories about illness and
recovery. Using a case study of one woman’s stories about her amputation,
it demonstrates how both narrated space and narrating space can be used
as devices to structure the narrative and position its characters and
interlocutors to construct the narrator’s embodied experiences and
identities. The paper reveals intersections between embodied experience,
space, and narrative identity construction, offering a new way of attending
to illness narratives and a new way of engaging with narrative space.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-14 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Sociology of Health and Illness |
| Early online date | 17 May 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 17 May 2018 |