Published : 2023-11-28 — Updated on 2023-11-28

In Search of the Value of Life Marked by the Experience of Breast Cancer in the Perspective of the Biographical Trajectory of a Modern Woman

Abstract

Surviving cancer is a situation that involves realizing the fragility of life. This feeling of the closeness of death has an impact on the change in the sense of existence, which is imperceptible in the daily routine of the day. Referring to the philosophy of Viktor Frankl, a breakthrough moment, which is the confrontation with the real risk of the end of one’s own life, gives a chance for self-reflexive reference to the experience of the disease and giving it its own meaning. The article analyzes just such a borderline situation from the perspective of a woman who has had a history of cancer – breast cancer. The interpretation of the interview conducted with the Narrator, allowed us to generate her personal biographical trajectory marked by this difficult event and to capture the values she noticed in this situation. The article also refers to issues related to intentional action aimed at taking control over one’s own life, which is expressed, among others, in the Narrator’s decision to have a healthy breast mastectomy. The analysis of the interview also touches on the subject based on the evaluation of fear and culturally replicated patterns of looking both at others and at oneself.

Keywords:

biographical trajectory, biographical experience, existential suffering, breast cancer, values, breakthrough moments



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Wąsiński, A., & Rzosińska, K. (2023). In Search of the Value of Life Marked by the Experience of Breast Cancer in the Perspective of the Biographical Trajectory of a Modern Woman. Biografistyka Pedagogiczna, 8(1), 641–676. https://doi.org/10.36578/BP.2023.08.30

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"Biografistyka Pedagogiczna" received funding for the years 2022-2024 from the funds of the Minister of Education and Science under the programme „Rozwój Czasopism Naukowych”.

Project duration: 2023-2024.

The amount of co-financing is 65 992,00 PLN

Contract number: RCN/SP/0434/2021/1