Stories of Coping with Sickness:Illness Narratives in Early Medieval Chinese Anecdotal Literature

As basic facts of life,illness and healing occur frequently and in a variety of patterns in Chinese non-medical literature,starting from the earliest sources inscribed on oracle bones and continuing throughout literary history up to the present day.This article looks at illness narratives in early medieval anecdotal literature(3rd to 6th century CE)to understand how the experience of being sick or of attending to the sick was reflected in these socio-literary environments and what rhetorical and ideological roles these narratives played in their larger narrative contexts.By focusing on the experiences of the sick and those around them,this article aims at“Honoring the Stories of Illness,”in Rita Charon’s words,that are hiding in plain sight in much of Chinese non-medical literature.

Illness Narratives in Edgar Allan Poe’s Short Stories

Edgar Allan Poe occupies a unique position in the history of American literature.His gothic horror novels prove astounding on account of extraordinary rendering the atmosphere and in-depth psychological description.In his gothic novels,pestilence,tuberculosis and madness are common and the protagonists always suffer from foregoing diseases.Based on the investigation of the relation between Poe’s life and illness and the social and cultural background of Poe’s time,the thesis aims to discuss the emergence and embodiment of illness narratives in Poe’s tales in order to explore the aesthetic values and cultural connotations.

Deeper inside the Experience of Pediatric Headache: A Narrative Study

Objective: To explore meanings, perspectives and points of view of the subjective experience of paediatric patients with headache (PPwH) and create a first-person narrative for clinical practice. Methods: We conducted a qualitative, narrative research study with PPwH, 11 - 17 years old. Data were collected through narratives interviews and a twofold narrative analysis was performed: a narrative and a thematic analysis. Results: Twenty-three patients (14 girls;mean age 14.5;median duration of illness of 5.8 years) were recruited. Through narrative analysis and close reading, narratives revealed different ways to organize illness experience: PPwH can use 1) narrative sequences of recurrent events in order a) to describe the continuing living-through of the experience of headache, b) to define operative script or c) to characterize the illness experience generally as a “controlled” routine;or 2) a storied account of events, with well-defined characters, plot and evaluation of contingency and correlation between events to express a personal point of view and a moral standpoint about the illness experience. Through thematic analysis 5 main themes and 22 subthemes about the significance of being a PPwH emerged: a) disease dimension (description of pain), b) illness dimension, c) sickness, d) causality, e) coping and f) future perception. Then, a first-person narrative story was created as a tool enabling reflection and conversation during clinical consultation. Conclusions: Results suggest that promoting narrative dialogue can be an opportunity for the neurologist: the prototypical narrative developed from story analysis might be a tool to apply for the narrative-based medicine in the clinical setting.