Lecture 2: The stories we tell

Question 1

What is the basis of a restitution story?

Answer 1

‘yesterday I was healthy, but today I am sick, but tomorrow I will be well again’

Question 2

What is the basis of a chaos story?

Answer 2

• The stories are from people who have no distance from their illness in their life – instead they are consumed by it
• They follow a characteristic story development of ‘and then…. and then…. and then’
• Often compared to a whirlpool, these stories belong
  to the sufferer and no-one else

Question 3

What is the basis of a quest story?

Answer 3

The story line provides a departure date, an initiation period and then a return – in this case rather like the stages of a journey

• The self is constructed heroically and the key characteristic of these stories is endurance and forbearance by the teller.
• The experience of suffering is central to the initial quest experience but it is by learning the integrity of suffering that the questing hero encounters their boon - the ‘reason’ for their trials

Question 4

What is the basis of a testimonial story?

Answer 4

testimonial’ stories – pressing you to witness and to believe and excluding information that contradicts their key storyline.

“this worked for me….”

Frank said that all illness narratives are testimonial story’s in their own elements!

Question 5

What were the three narratives of the smokers from the Olsen reading?

Answer 5

Smokers recount the following 3 main narratives to help them to reduce this stigma.

• Of Resistance – draws on biomedical understandings of smoking as addictive (not my fault)
• Of Choice – draws on choosing a lower frequency of smoking, the use of nicotine patches, exercising agency,
  of being victimized (I’m doing the right thing, why are you so mean?)
• Of Happiness – draws on smoking as a crutch & solace or as an antidote to anxiety which in turn allows them
  to succeed at being responsible for ‘being happy’ (the stigma of being unhappy is worse than the stigma of
  being seen as a smoker)