The Sense of Our Ending: Mortality, Narrative (In)Efficiency, and Autopathographical Commitment in Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air

Sara Nazockdast

doi:10.4312/elope.22.2.113-129

Authors

Sara Nazockdast University of Tehran https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7450-5656

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.22.2.113-129

Keywords:

autopathography, life-narratives, Paul Kalanithi, Medical Humanities, postmodernity

Abstract

The Medical Humanities underscore the pivotal role of autopathographies in understanding the impact of illness on the self, and the correlative senses of agency, autonomy, and identity for critical and practical insights. This study employs a multidisciplinary theoretical framework, aligned with the requirements of the Medical Humanities, incorporating cognitive approaches to life-narratives alongside Frank Kermode’s humanistic interpretation of storytelling to address two contestations with regard to the existing theories of narrative selves, particularly concerning narrative unity and totality. Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air is analysed as the quintessential autopathography that effectively responds to these challenges while adhering to the postmodern exigencies of its era.

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