Cancer, Finitude and Life Configuration

Cancer is a radical confrontation with the finitude of human being. The aim of
our research is to understand the experience of women who survived breast
cancer. The sample consists of seven women with a diagnosis of breast cancer
who participated in the Mamma-Help program. We used narrative interviews
to obtain a spontaneous articulation of this critical point in the women’s life. In
our paper we deal with the breast cancer experience of women from the
perspective of the whole. We pay attention mainly to how the experience of
this disease is configured by narrative means such as figures, plots, or life story
genres. The particular life stories suggest that confrontation with the finiteness
of life is a key tool for narrative configuring of the woman’s life. We also
found that a substantial aspect of narrative configuration is the stipulation of
some sphere of influence over, active participation in, and responsibility for,
the progress of her life.