Illness Narratives

Harvard HMS

"The kingdom of the sick" as Susan Sontag called it, is no single place. The experience of each ill person and each caregiver is unique, shaped by psychological, social, biological, political, economic, and other forces beyond a specific diagnosis. Narratives in the form of essay, memoir, poetry, fiction, pathography, and other genres help us make meaning and even beauty out of the complex and often bewildering experience of illness. In this course we will read several such narratives as well…