Narration and legitimation: the case of in vitro fertilization

This article draws on a conceptualization of the link between science and p olitics based on discourse analysis. The public objects of science are theo rized as discursive creatures. This political concept encapsulates the pred etermination of politics by scientific discourse. This framework has been u sed to study the legitimation of in vitro fertilization in the UK. Through different linguistic and textual mechanisms the discourse of reproductive b iology constructed IVF as a technology acceptable to actors of Various pers uasions. The article focuses on one such mechanism, namely narration. The f irst successful fertilization of human eggs in vitro was immediately report ed in a popular scientific article. This article is analysed by means of se quential theory and narrative semiotics. The story is then put in relation with parliamentary discourse on IVF.