Mark Lucherini m.lucherini@keele.ac.uk
Representing diabetes: ‘Brightside’ and ‘chaos’ in autobiography
Lucherini
Authors
Abstract
This paper examines six autobiographical sources written by people with type 1 diabetes. In seeking to improve the understanding of diabetic lifeworlds; some of the autobiographies present heroic stories of ‘overcoming’ diabetes while others present a more ‘chaotic’ narrative. Regardless of their form, all the autobiographies highlight how the everyday problems and concerns associated with diabetes can be hidden and silenced. Therefore, I ask the question of how to use autobiographies as sources of evidence, being aware of the power constructs that may have directed their form. Despite this question, I argue that autobiographies remain crucial sources for exploring the experience of everyday life and much of the silencing in the texts reflects spatial and emotional challenges faced by the authors. I also consider the limitations of representation in the autobiographies calling for an understanding that the experience of diabetes carries with it feelings, emotions and affects that are non-representable and so never entirely knowable. Thus, this paper builds on recent geographical research on emotion and ‘contested’ illnesses, especially those that are not obviously visible or are easily hidden.
Citation
Lucherini. (2019). Representing diabetes: ‘Brightside’ and ‘chaos’ in autobiography. Emotion, Space and Society, 10-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2019.02.004
Acceptance Date | Feb 15, 2019 |
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Publication Date | May 1, 2019 |
Journal | Emotion, Space and Society |
Print ISSN | 1755-4586 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Pages | 10-17 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2019.02.004 |
Keywords | diabetes, health, emotion, autobiography, narrative, representation |
Publisher URL | http://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2019.02.004 |
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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