Do Men’s and Women’s Accounts of Surviving a Stroke Conform to Frank’s Narrative Genres?

Abstract

We compared the illness narratives of 9 male and 9 female United Kingdom stroke survivors using Frank’s typologies of illness narratives. Most respondents presented a single dominant narrative genre (“quest memoir,” “restitution,” “chaos,” or a new “despair” genre); none presented quest manifesto or automythology narratives of social action or self-reinvention. We found no gender differences apparent in which genres respondents presented. Stroke severity and the degree of anticipated or actual recovery largely influenced which genre predominated in individual accounts. Contrary to some sociological understandings of gender and health, gender appeared to be less influential on stroke survivors’ illness accounts than aspects of the illness, such as its severity.

Listening through Narratives: Using a Narrative Approach When Discussing Fertility Preservation Options with Young Cancer Patients

“…Arthur Frank, a sociologist and narrative researcher, developed a typology of three different illness narratives (restitution, quest, and chaos narratives) based on extensive interviews that he conducted with cancer survivors and on his personal experience with cancer [33][34][35] . Table i outlines the Frank narrative types.…”

“…The Frank narrative types have been used in studies of adult experiences with cancer, hiv/aids, stroke, and chronic illness 35,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] . Those studies expose the complex ways in which social and cultural narratives shape the meaning of illness for patients.…”

“…Those studies expose the complex ways in which social and cultural narratives shape the meaning of illness for patients. Some studies describe patterns between the narrative types and offer modifications to the typology based on their findings 35,43 . Although participant comments usually align with a predominant narrative type, a single individual might draw on various elements of each narrative concurrently or over time.…”

Therapeutic landscapes and living with breast cancer: The lived experiences of Thai women

“…Being diagnosed with breast cancer can be "a traumatic experience" for many women (Drageset et al, 2011(Drageset et al, , p. 1942, generating a number of emotional responses such as chaos, despair, uncertainty, anxiety, fear, and hopelessness (Shaha et al, 2008;Drageset et al, 2010;France et al, 2013;Liamputtong and Suwankhong, in press). This makes women with breast cancer "emotionally vulnerable" (Elmir et al, 2010(Elmir et al, , p. 2532.…”

Family experiences of living with an eating disorder: A narrative analysis

“…The work of Frank (1995) has become ubiquitous in the study of chronic illness and has been used to interpret experiences of cancer (Simpson, Heath & Wall, 2014), stroke (France, Hunt, Dow, & Wyke, 2013), spinal cord injury (Smith & Sparkes, 2005) and HIV (Ezzy, 2000), amongst numerous other bodily conditions. This narrative approach has also been successfully applied to the study of mental illness (see Carless, 2008;Gold, 2007), although not the study of eating disorders.…”