Work

Grieving Bodily Loss in Celebrity Illness Memoir

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The relationship between public and private is central to celebrity memoir, even more so in connection to chronic illness that slowly progresses. This article examines the process of grieving publicly a life and body that are changing in Michael J. Fox's No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality (2020), and Selma Blair's Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up (2022). Fox addresses the slow deterioration brought on by Parkinson's disease and other conditions, whereas Blair focuses on her childhood and increasing symptoms of multiple sclerosis, as well as alcohol abuse. The article draws on autobiographical perspectives on the aesthetics and purposes of illness narratives, examining the limits of public personal narratives when faced with progressing disease. The selected texts indicate that celebrity status provides opportunities for advocacy work as well as access to treatment, while also emphasizing bodily loss when illness manifests itself publicly.

Source: Illness Crisis & Loss

DOI: 10.1177/10541373241302196

Author: Lena Englund

Institution: University of Eastern Finland

Language: English

Topic: Autobiographical and Biographical Writing

Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,200