Narrative and Experience: Telling Stories of Illness

Abstract

Narratives of illness have a central role in medical anthropology and have the illuminated the personal and social experience of suffering. Problematizing the relationship between narrative and experience, narrative is viewed not simply as a reflection of experience. Illness narratives are seen as intersubjective products that create meaning and coherence in an otherwise fractured life. Moreover, narratives are not simply about what was, or what is, but about what will be. Thus, narratives create experience and are directed toward future action in the world.