ENLT-215I: Illness Narrative & Health Humanities

This course examines the intertwined relationship between lived experiences and literary/cultural narratives of illness. Illness is a universal experience-everyone becomes ill. But what is illness? How do we respond to our own and others' experiences of illness? Why illness narratives? What role does narrative play in bearing witness to lived experiences of illness and/or healing? What do illness narratives reveal about ourselves and our society/culture, including our healthcare system? We will engage with these questions by drawing upon first person narratives of illness, alongside interdisciplinary conversations within-and at the intersections-of literary studies, sociology, psychology, and medicine. In the process, we will examine the formal aspects of literary and cultural narratives of illness, such as, point of view, narrative structure, imagery, language, and genre. At the same time, we will analyze the specific historical and cultural contexts within which these texts have been produced and read, and how these contexts shape representations of the self and society in illness narratives.