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Journal of Sport & Social Issues
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Bodies, Narratives, Selves, and Autobiography

The Example of Lance Armstrong

Andrew C. Sparkes

qualitative research unit in the school of sport and health sciences at the University of Exeter

This article focuses on Lance Armstrong’s autobiography titled It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. From a perspective informed by autobiographical studies and the sociology of the body and illness, insights are provided into a variety of bodies, selves, and narratives that circulate within the text. The case is made that early in his sporting career, Armstrong develops a disciplined and dominating body that has an elective affinity for the cyborg narrative. On being diagnosed with cancer, these ideal body types lead him toward a restitution narrative. The illness experience, however, provides an opportunity for a communicative body to emerge that links him to a quest narrative. On returning to elite sport, former body-self relationships are restored and foregrounded. Issues are raised regarding the cultural shaping of Armstrong’s autobiography, and its form and content are problematized.

Key Words: Lance Armstrong • autobiography • illness • narratives • selves • bodies • restitution • quest

Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Vol. 28, No. 4, 397-428 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0193723504269907
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B. Smith and A. C. Sparkes
Contrasting perspectives on narrating selves and identities: an invitation to dialogue
Qualitative Research, February 1, 2008; 8(1): 5 - 35.
[Abstract] [PDF]