Tracking the Meanders of the Self

By Danielle Raquidel

When facing cancer, far from her family and country, alone, Danielle found the strength she needed to fight, in personal expression. She confided her innermost thoughts to her modest art forms. It became a survival quest, an exercise in human resilience. Images and added poems helped her conjure up the tenets of her life.
People who are confronted by near-death experience through disease will closely relate to her ordeals having to come to terms with the possible outcome of treatment: a scary dilemma.
Art helped her retake charge of her life rather than let herself be victimised by the experience. She couldn’t change the course of events but she could change the way she looked at it and become more positive. A deeper self-comprehension came with the acceptation of her own human limitations. Only later serenity became part of the equation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Aug 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781398415416

Danielle Raquidel

Born in France, Danielle lived most of her adult life abroad: England, Venezuela, USA (Ohio, South Carolina). She has travelled extensively elsewhere. A baby boomer, she got a licence-ès-lettres in 1968. She studied English at Lyon 2, Arts in Venezuela, French at UC.  She holds an MA and a PhD in French Literature. She taught French, Spanish and Pottery in schools, then as a Professor at the University of South Carolina. An arts lover, she now lives in the South of France. This book and collages were her personal therapy, the reflection of her moods as she fought cancer and neuropathy.

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About the Author

Born in France, Danielle lived most of her adult life abroad: England, Venezuela, USA (Ohio, South Carolina). She has travelled extensively elsewhere. A baby boomer, she got a licence-ès-lettres in 1968. She studied English at Lyon 2, Arts in Venezuela, French at UC. She holds an MA and a PhD in French Literature. She taught French, Spanish and Pottery in schools, then as a Professor at the University of South Carolina.

An arts lover, she now lives in the South of France. This book and collages were her personal therapy, the reflection of her moods as she fought cancer and neuropathy.

A propos de l’auteure

Née en France, Danielle a vécu la plus grande partie de sa vie à l’étranger: Royaume Uni, Venezuela, Etats-Unis (Ohio, Caroline du Sud). Elle a beaucoup voyagé. Née au début du baby boom, elle a obtenu une Licence ès Lettres en 1968. Elle a étudié l’anglais à Lyon 2, les Beaux-Arts au Venezuela, le français à UC. Elle est titulaire d’un MA et d’un Ph.D en littérature française. Elle a enseigné le français, l’espagnol, la poterie dans plusieurs écoles avant de devenir Professeure à l’Université de Caroline du Sud.

Amoureuse des arts, elle vit maintenant dans le Sud de la France. Ce livre et ces collages ont été sa thérapie personnelle et reflètent ses sautes d’humeur tandis qu’elle se battait contre le cancer et la neuropathie.

To Sébastien, Luciano & Melissa

A Sébastien, Luciano & Melissa

Danielle Raquidel

Tracking

The Meanders

Of The Self

La Poursuite des méandres de l’être

Acknowledgements

I thank my family and my old friends who supported me, even from a distance: my university friends and colleagues, Nancy and Lawrence Moore, who took me in, after surgery, and the many who fed me when I couldn’t cook, sent me gifts and flowers to cheer me up in the hospital and at home, the students who wrote to me. I am especially grateful for the countless new friends I made, perfect strangers, who came forward and generously gave me their trust. time and affection, helped me physically and emotionally by being here for me when I needed help, and for all who encouraged me tirelessly from November 2002 when I was diagnosed, throughout 2003, and until May 2004 when my protocol ended.

I am of course particularly indebted to my medical team, my surgeon, Dr Cochran, my oncologist Dr Assim Paty, the personnel in their offices and in the Gibbs Regional Cancer Center of Spartanburg, Jamie Ingraham who assisted me from day one, the Palmetto Hematology Oncology. The chemotherapy nurses and others that took good care of me, the therapists of Energy for Life programs: Carol Tait, Anne Stafford, Tarasa Schmidt, Chad Dingman, Jan LeFrancois, Jennifer Kerley, Page Scruggs. and Perry Patterson, the Center Librarian who always found what I needed and more.

I also owe an enormous debt to the Sparkle City Sisters: the most extraordinary bunch of women that ever was: women whose sum of energy and strength is unsurpassed, and who cheer each other along