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Narration and Legitimation: The Case of in Vitro Fertilization

This article draws on a conceptualization of the link between science and politics based on discourse analysis. The public objects of science are theorized as discursive creatures. This political concept encapsulates the predetermination of politics by scientific discourse. This framework has been used to study the legitimation of in vitro fertilization in the UK. Through different linguistic and textual mechanisms the discourse of reproductive biology constructed IVF as a technology acceptable to actors of various persuasions. The article focuses on one such mechanism, namely, narration. The first successful fertilization of human eggs in vitro was immediately reported in a popular scientific article. This article is analysed by means of sequential theory and narrative semiotics. The story is then put in relation with parliamentary discourse on IVF.