‘It doesn’t bother me anymore’: The Becoming Model of narrative victimology and (non-)narrative making

Abstract

This paper contributes to narrative victimology by theorizing how victims/survivors may create a narrative that is not centred on victimization. As proposed by Kelly and her colleagues, the paper aims to debunk the victim/survivor dichotomy to appreciate the wholeness of victims’/survivors’ lives, which constantly evolve beyond the victimization or survival. To this end, the paper presents the ‘Becoming Model’ of narrative generation, drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of the rhizome, and uses a romance fraud victim’s/survivor’s case to illustrate the Model’s applicability. The current study contributes to narrative victimology by criticizing the idealization of active and decisive agency as a desirable feature for victims/survivors and the negative connotation attached to passivity.