Roberts, Krista E.

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Pink shadows: A comparison of the internal/external in Cancer Vixen and The Cancer Journals
(2014) Roberts, Krista E.; Chansky, Ricia A.; College of Arts and Sciences - Arts; Lamore, Eric D.; Mazak, Catherine; Hipchen, Emily; Rivera, Rosita; Department of English; Maldonado, Noemi
This thesis reads the breast cancer memoir, Cancer Vixen by Marisa Marchetto, in the shadow of The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde, working to situate the text within the context of its very complex relationships with trauma telling and self-help motives. While both of these cancer narratives have been taken up in academic discourse, few scholars have sought to challenge the relegation of trauma metaphors to the literal background of Cancer Vixen, a practice informed by Lorde’s focus on the political (as opposed to the emotional) in her text. This thesis connects the political act of this placement of trauma in Cancer Vixen in order to call attention to the ways in which Marchetto devalues other women, an act that directly opposes Lorde’s text. Ultimately, this project argues that Cancer Vixen’s position as a self-help text shapes the ways in which breast cancer politics are represented and that this text, therefore, aligns more closely with the hyper-positive rhetorics of pink ribbon philanthropy than it does with Lorde’s call to concrete political actions.