“I Know It Seems Weird, but Don’t Tell Anybody”: Further Exploring Tellability in Untold Stories of Caregiving

Abstract

Narrative tellability is a guiding principle that enables scholars to understand how, when, and to whom a story is (not) told. The current study was done while considering ideas of the theory of communication privacy management to further understand narrative tellability within the context of unpaid, informal care. Unpaid, informal caregivers are at a challenging intersection of privacy management, as they navigate their own, as well as their loved one’s, private information. From the qualitative, inductive analysis of 20 narratives, characteristics of tellability emerged as: Story would do Undesirable Identity Work, Story would Produce Negative Sanctions, and Story would Negatively Impact Relationship(s). I conclude with a discussion of conceptual and practical implications of viewing narrative tellability through the lens of privacy management.

Keywords:

• Informal Caregiving
• Tellability
• Unpaid Caregiving
• Untellable Tales
• Untold Stories

Acknowledgments

The author would like to extend their gratitude to Jenny Crowley and Rachel McLaren for their insightful and valued assistance in validating the data analysis and further honing the findings, as well as the reviewers for their helpful suggestions for moving this manuscript forward toward publication.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. All participants are referred to by pseudonyms. Interview excerpts are followed by the participant pseudonym, page of the transcript document the excerpt can be found on, and the individual the participant is providing care for.

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no funding to report.

Notes on contributors

Jennifer A. Jackl

Dr. Jennifer A. Jackl (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Her research and teaching centers around the knowledge that storytelling in an integral part of our everyday lives. Individuals tell stories in order to connect with others, create and maintain relationships, make sense of daily life, cope with challenges, and achieve catharsis. Specifically, Dr. Jackl studies how the stories we often hesitate to tell others are important to understand because they serve as critical markers of personal and relational identity. Dr. Jackl has studied untold tales in the separate contexts of romantic relationship origin stories, parenthood, and, most recently, unpaid, informal caregiving. Her work has been published in communication studies journals at the state, regional, and national levels.