This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Frank, A. W. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Frank, A. W. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Stories of illness as care of the self: a Foucauldian dialogue

University of Calgary, Canada

Michel Foucault's idea of the ‘care of the self’ challenges whether ill people can be empowered by telling their own stories in the attempt to reclaim their own experiences from the medical appropriation of illness. This paper explores the ambiguity in what Foucault meant by care of the self and suggests that empowerment through narrative formulations of identity remains possible, though Foucault teaches us that telling our ‘own stories’ is never straightforward. The works of the classicist Page duBois and the philosopher Charles Taylor are used to provide a reconceptualized version of ‘care of the self’. If care of the self is more problematic after Foucault, it may also be more important, and personal narratives remain a crucial means of taking care of oneself.

Key Words: duBois • Foucault • illness experience • illness narrative • narrative • Taylor

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Radley, J. Cheek, and C. Ritter The making of health:: a reflection on the first 10 years in the life of a journal. Health (London) , October 1, 2006; 10(4): 389 - 400. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. van Dongen Sell a Book and Cook a Dog: Misery, Memory and Space from Siberian Camps to Apartheid Transcultural Psychiatry, September 1, 2004; 41(3): 360 - 385. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Persson, K. Race, and E. Wakeford HIV Health in Context: Negotiating Medical Technology and Lived Experience Health (London) , October 1, 2003; 7(4): 397 - 415. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. Tulle and E. Mooney Moving to `Age-appropriate' Housing: Government and Self in Later Life Sociology, August 1, 2002; 36(3): 685 - 702. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Greco Inconspicuous Anomalies: Alexithymia and Ethical Relations to the Self Health (London) , October 1, 2001; 5(4): 471 - 492. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. E. Gray, C. Sinding, and M. I. Fitch Navigating the Social Context of Metastatic Breast Cancer: Reflections on a Project Linking Research to Drama Health (London) , April 1, 2001; 5(2): 233 - 248. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Little, K. Paul, C. F.C. Jordens, and E.-J. Sayers Vulnerability in the Narratives of Patients and their Carers: Studies of Colorectal Cancer Health (London) , October 1, 2000; 4(4): 495 - 510. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. Willig A Discourse-Dynamic Approach to the Study of Subjectivity in Health Psychology Theory Psychology, August 1, 2000; 10(4): 547 - 570. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. J. Devlieger and G. L. Albrecht Your Experience Is Not My Experience: The Concept and Experience of Disability on Chicago's Near West Side Journal of Disability Policy Studies, January 1, 2000; 11(1): 51 - 60. [Abstract] [PDF]