Cancer diagnosis as discursive capture: Phenomenological repercussions of being positioned within dominant constructions of cancer

► An analysis of how discursive constructions of cancer frame the identity and experience of people with cancer. ► Explores the relationship between diagnosis, discourse and the illness experience. ► Draws on personal experience, academic literature and cancer narratives to trace implications of dominant cancer discourses. ► Identifies individualism and 'positive thinking' as powerful imperatives in cancer discourse