<i>Picassos Woman: A Breast Cancer Story</i> (1994) and <i>Ordinary Life: A Memoir of Illness</i> (1997) tell of the breast cancer experiences of Rosalind MacPhee and Kathlyn Conway, respectively. This thesis examines how three particular social movementsthe breast cancer, healthy-mindedness, and new momism movements, all described in Chapter Oneaffect how MacPhee and Conway experience breast cancer and then write about it in the 1990s. Chapter Two examines the language of war that MacPhee and Conway adopt to describe illness and how such language leads them to examine the possibility proposed by the healthy-mindedness movement: that they are personally responsible for bringing a determined killer (Conway 125) into their lives. Chapter Three studies their active patient behaviours, as advocated by the breast cancer movement, as well as their more passive ones. I consider the relation between these active and passive behaviours in light of the severe nature of mastectomies and the presentation of post-surgical options. Chapter Four investigates how MacPhee and Conway struggle to maintain their roles as supermoms, busily attending to responsibilities at home and work, while simultaneously managing their recoveries. In each Chapter, the influence of the social movements named above becomes apparent as MacPhee and Conway attempt to move themselves and others out of the breast cancer experience and back into a sense of normality (MacPhee 106).

<i>Picassos Woman: A Breast Cancer Story</i> (1994) and <i>Ordinary Life: A Memoir of Illness</i> (1997) tell of the breast cancer experiences of Rosalind MacPhee and Kathlyn Conway, respectively. This thesis examines how three particular social movementsthe breast cancer, healthy-mindedness, and new momism movements, all described in Chapter Oneaffect how MacPhee and Conway experience breast cancer and then write about it in the 1990s. Chapter Two examines the language of war that MacPhee and Conway adopt to describe illness and how such language leads them to examine the possibility proposed by the healthy-mindedness movement: that they are personally responsible for bringing a determined killer (Conway 125) into their lives. Chapter Three studies their active patient behaviours, as advocated by the breast cancer movement, as well as their more passive ones. I consider the relation between these active and passive behaviours in light of the severe nature of mastectomies and the presentation of post-surgical options. Chapter Four investigates how MacPhee and Conway struggle to maintain their roles as supermoms, busily attending to responsibilities at home and work, while simultaneously managing their recoveries. In each Chapter, the influence of the social movements named above becomes apparent as MacPhee and Conway attempt to move themselves and others out of the breast cancer experience and back into a sense of normality (MacPhee 106).

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’analyser les écritures de personnes atteintes du cancer. La première partie de notre travail se focalise sur la description des caractéristiques des six ouvrages constituant notre corpus. Nous proposons de les nommer « autopathographies », c’est-à-dire de les définir comme des récits rétrospectifs en prose qu'une personne fait de sa propre maladie, dans lesquels il y a identité entre l’expérience de maladie de l’auteur (tel qu’il figure par son nom sur la couverture), celle du narrateur du récit et celle du malade dont on parle. Le rapport qui s’instaure entre la maladie et l’écriture est à la base de la structure interne de la deuxième et de la troisième partie de notre travail. Dans la deuxième partie, nous analysons le lien entre le cancer et l’écriture : nous démontrons le rôle du corps malade comme objet de l'écriture, mais aussi comme cause et source, dans la mesure où l’attention au corps et à son langage façonne les récits. Le langage choisi pour décrire le cancer est l’objet de l’analyse menée dans la troisième partie. En nous basant sur la segmentation faite dans la deuxième partie, nous identifions les métaphores mobilisées par les patients pour décrire la maladie et le parcours de soins. Notre travail démontre l’existence d’une écriture basée sur l’expérience directe de patients qui enrichit le langage pour « dire » le cancer et la représentation de cette maladie. En annexe se trouvent le fruit de nos entretiens inédits avec Giacomo Cardaci, Cristina Piga et Melania Rizzoli, auteurs de trois des autopathographies analysées. / The aim of our work is to investigate the narrative of people diagnosed with cancer. The first part of our study focusses on the description of the characteristics of the six works composing our corpus. We define them « autopathographies », meaning « retrospective prose narrative written by a real person concerning his or hers own illness experience »; in these narratives the experience of illness of the author (whose name designates a real person), the one of the narrator and of the one of principal character are identical. The relationship between cancer and writing is the basis of the structure of the second and of the third part of our research. The aim of the second part is to elucidate the link between cancer and writing; we prove that the diseased body is the topic, cause and source of the autopathographies, since the attention accorded to the diseased body models the story. In the third part of my PhD we focus on the language used to describe cancer. The analysis done in the second part is a starting point to identify the metaphors used by the patients to describe cancer and their experience of illness. Our work demonstrates the existence of a narrative based on the patients’ illness experiences and this narrative enriches the language used to “tell” cancer and its representation. Appendices: synopsis of the autopathographies and interviews of Giacomo Cardaci, Cristina Piga and Melania Rizzoli.

This thesis aims to highlight the relevance of patients engaging with their patient narratives as a tool in recovery from illness and in regaining their sense of agency. / This thesis aims to rename the term ‘illness narrative’ to a more disclosive writing called the ‘patient narrative’ as a means to focus on the patient as a person who experiences illness, instead of the illness label. Exploring patient narratives, such as Susannah Cahalan’s Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, as a form of disclosive writing will highlight the need for this tool to act as a more personal and effective communication between patients, healthcare professionals, and caregivers. The thesis is presented in two parts: a critical essay and my patient narrative. Part One is a critical essay that explores how engaging with patient narratives contributes to the patient reclaiming their agency and sense of identity. In three subsections, the essay highlights the difficulties patients go through with illnesses or rare medical events, as well as the emotional and physical impacts that they experience, going beyond medical symptoms. The essay focuses on three points separated into three sections. The sections are: Recognizing Pathologies and Injuries, Communication and Language in the Patient Experience, and Reclaiming Agency. Part Two is my autopathography centring on the complications encountered while seeking a common surgery. After general anaesthesia, I develop Postoperative Cognitive Changes of unknown aetiology. This greatly complicates the situation when surgery is needed, and the ensuing cognitive impairments have lasting impacts on me academically, personally, emotionally, and socially. While both parts are distinct, together they mirror how patient narratives have the iv potential to bridge the communication gap between medicine and humanities. As such, patient narratives can communicate connections between patients, medical communities, and a broader audience which acts to underscore the need of a deeper awareness for the importance of compassion and empathy for those experiencing any form of health challenge. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / Patient narratives are a form of expressive writing that enables the patient to regain their sense of identity and agency following a health illness. When a person first becomes a patient, they leave their known world of familiarity and comfort and enter into a new one on their health journey. Their language and ways of communicating are required to adapt to the world of medicine. The patient loses their sense of identity and agency as a result of their illness. This thesis is presented in two parts, a critical essay and my brief patient memoir, and will explore how the patient, when engaging with patient narratives such as Susannah Cahalan’s Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, can reclaim their agency and sense of identity. The first part is an essay exploring the contributions of patient narratives. The second part is my memoir, exemplifying a patient narrative.

No description available.

No description available.