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Bearing Witness

Living with Ovarian Cancer

Edited by Kathryn Carter & Laurie Elit
Subjects Social Science, Women’s Studies, Biography & Autobiography
Series Life Writing Hide Details
Paperback : 9781554580552, 102 pages, September 2009
Ebook (EPUB) : 9781554582044, 102 pages, April 2011

Table of contents

Table of Contents for Bearing Witness: Living with Ovarian Cancer, edited by Kathryn Carter and Laurie Elit

Acknowledgements

Introduction | Dr. Laurie Elit

Esther

Bev

Lisa

Mary

Bilgay

Denise

Sarah

Patricia

Ida

Martha

Cheryl

Afterword: Metastasizing Plots: Telling and Un-Telling the Stories of Cancer | Kathryn Carter

Bibliography

Description

Bearing Witness is a collection of stories from women who went through the diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and treatment for it, only to find that the cancer recurred and any hope of recovery was gone. These women represent a spectrum of ages, ethnic backgrounds, marital circumstances, and professional experiences. From their stories we learn how each woman shapes the meaning of her life. Facing a life crisis can make one bitter and angry, but it can also provide the key to a thankful and generous spirit within.

Storytelling is an important art form present in many cultures: it is a way of processing life events, of searching for meaning, and of allowing teller and listener to wrestle with the message. It is a form of teaching and learning. For the women in Bearing Witness, stories are tangible legacies for family and friends and a chance to share their thoughts on living with the “glass half full.” They inspire the reader to reflect on life’s struggles and to find within themselves a sense of optimism, perhaps when they least expect to.

Kathryn Carter’s concluding essay places these stories in the context of contemporary discourses of illness and healing.

Reviews

``I have often thought that the reason there is so much breast cancer activism is that there are vast numbers of women who have been diagnosed with cancer-the-killer but who have lived to tell the tale. In contrast, ovarian cancer is silent and deadly, and Carter and Elit have done us a service in bringing these stories to the fore.''

- Julia A. Ericksen, Signs, Winter 2011