Bodies, narratives, selves, and autobiography: The example of Lance Armstrong

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.