Kampen for egen historie

– om multivokale sygdomsnarrativer

Abstract

In this article, we focus on Kim, who lives in a community housing for people with mental health problems. Based on a constructivist understanding of narrative we examine how

Kim’s story is narrated by himself and his surroundings. Through an analysis of Kim’s own narratives, and the narratives of his family and of the staff at the community housing, we ask how contexts and other people’s versions contribute to the creation of an individual’s narrative. By focusing on a single case, we are able to invite different voices and contexts in which Kim participates, into the analysis, thus illustrating the basic multivocality of the narratives of and about Kim. This multivocality is further complicated by the fact that Kim’s experience with psychoses has taught him to doubt his own memories. Based on an increasing request for service users’ own stories, we ask how to understand such “own” stories, and we question the assumptions about “authenticity” that it sometimes involves. Through focusing on a variety of contexts and agents, we illustrate how contexts and relationships frame the narratives and affect their design. Thus, context is crucial for understanding what listening to the service users’ “own” stories involves as well as for the understanding of “authenticity”. In our understanding, the importance of listening to the narratives of service users lies not in their assumed authenticity, but rather in the ways in which telling ones story may serve as a way to (re)establish agency.