What is breast cancer ‘survivorship’? A discursive psychological analysis of a blogger’s lived experiences of the media’s representation of being a breast cancer ‘survivor’

Abstract

Whilst images of breast cancer ‘survivors’ at awareness and fundraising events are commonplace, little research exists which explores the lived experiences of ‘survivorship’ for women post-primary treatment. Using a discursive psychological approach, this exploratory qualitative study examines how one blogger constructs her lived experiences in relation to the media’s representations of breast cancer ‘survivorship’ and how she negotiates these representations through her blog. This purposive sample positions the mass media’s representation of breast cancer ‘survivorship’ as having the ability to restrict or silence breast cancer survivors’ lived experiences of ‘survivorship’ through dominant cultural scripts of how ‘survivorship’ should be performed.