University of British Columbia Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies PHYSICAL CULTURE, POWER, AND THE BODY

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BORDER CROSSINGS, BODIES, AND NARRATIVE TIME: BECOMING DISABLED THROUGH SPORT

Brett Smith (with Andrew Sparkes)

Abstract: Border Crossing, Bodies and Narrative Time: Becoming Disabled Through Sport (with Brett Smith). Lives have to be understood as lived within time, and time is experienced according to narrative. Narratives- of past, present or future- are the means by which biographical experience is given meaning. Identity is constructed via narrative and the self in time can only exist as a narrative construction. The complex connections between narrative, time and identity, therefore plays an important role in how we relate to ourselves and others as embodied beings in different contexts. Based on life history date, this study explores how time is experienced by 3 men who have 'crossed the border' when they became disabled through playing the contact sport of rugby union football. Various concepts and frameworks for understanding time are discussed in order to reveal how this taken -for-granted aspect of embodiment and narrative plays a pivotal role in the process of autobiographical identity construction. Comparisons are then made between the 3 men regarding their experiences of time at the different periods of their lives; pre spinal cord injury. Immediately following SCI during rehabilitation; and as they live their lives at the moment post SCI. The ways in which the different narratives (restitution, chaos and quest) operate to shape the post-SCI experiences of time for these men and how they related to their bodies are highlighted. The implications of this complex process for their identity (re) construction as disabled men are discussed.