Deconstruction of Binaries and Role Reversal in Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air

Ayesha Ashraf, Sardar Ahmad Farooq and Sikandar Ali
Additional contact information
Ayesha Ashraf: Lecturer, Department of English Language and Literature, University of Lahore, Pakistan
Sardar Ahmad Farooq: Lecturer, Department of English, Govt Postgraduate Boys Degree College Mansehra, KPK, Pakistan
Sikandar Ali: Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, University of Lahore, Pakistan

The Journal of Social Sciences Research, 2020, vol. 6, issue 8, 763-769

Abstract: Physicians’ stories of their illness attempt to bridge the divide between a professional doctor and a patient’s narrative by combining both the versions. This research paper undertakes a narratological analysis of latest illness narrative written by a physician-turned-patient Paul Kalanithi in his When Breath Becomes Air. The present study also finds out the role reversal happening between a clinician, patient and writer. It further aims to analyze Paul Kalanithi’s autobiographical memoir as a literary narrative of his last stage fatal lung cancer. The paper highlights the link between literature and the medical world and in this way generates a better understanding of the present interdisciplinary relation of both the disciplines i.e. literature and medicine. This research is qualitative and descriptive while textual analysis has been used as a research method. This study ends with the findings and recommendations for further research.

Keywords: English literature; Narratological constructs; Autobiography; Binaries; Medicine. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.arpgweb.com/pdf-files/jssr6(8)763-769.pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.arpgweb.com/journal/7/archive/08-2020/8/6 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:arp:tjssrr:2020:p:763-769

Access Statistics for this article

The Journal of Social Sciences Research is currently edited by Dr. Paola Magnano

More articles in The Journal of Social Sciences Research from Academic Research Publishing Group Rahim Yar Khan 64200, Punjab, Pakistan.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Managing Editor ().