In this volume, distinguished narrative scholars provide their early attempts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and to understand "crises" from a narrative perspective. COVID-19 has undoubtedly changed the world. And with this change, it also questioned how we conceptualize "narrative." Rather than attempting to solve the social aspects of the COVID crisis with the power of narrative storytelling, the authors in this volume attempt to re-envision "narrative" as an epistemic subject to be questioned in times of crises.

Martin Dege received PhD and MA degrees in Psychology from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a BA from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, and joined Pratt in 2020. In the past, he has worked at the American University of Paris, the University of Potsdam, the University of Konstanz, the University of Hamburg, and Yale University. Martin is the recipient of various research scholarships, including the Marie Curie Program of the EU, the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation, and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation.
Irene Strasser is Assistant Professor at St. Bonaventure University. Her research focuses on lifespan development with an emphasis on care work, adult development and aging. Her work is informed by critical gerontological perspectives, social justice studies, and qualitative approaches, particularly participatory and ethnographic research.

• Chapter 1: Crisis Stories: Narratives of Uncertainty and Change


• Irene Strasser and Martin Dege


• Part I: End of Story?


• Chapter 2: The (Al)lure of Narrative: Information, Misinformation, and Disinformation in the Time of Coronavirus


• Mark Freeman


• Chapter 3: Stories of Crisis: Denial, Redemption, and Radical Acceptance in the Time of COVID-19


• Dan P. McAdams


• Chapter 4: Dominant and Counteracting Narratives of 'Crisis' in COVID Times


• Corinne Squire


• Chapter 5: The Pandemic as a Crossroads: Problematizing the Narrative of War


• Hanna Meretoja


• Chapter 6: Beyond Trauma Narratives: How the Military Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1995) Shaped Stories Told in the Aftermath


• Luka Lucic and Guro Nore Fløgstad


• Part II: The Self in Crisis


• Chapter 7: Plotless Stories and Unthought Knowns: Aspects of Psychological Life with COVID-19


• Ruthellen Josselson


• Chapter 8: Coping Personally and Politically With World Crises: Can It Be Done Wisely?


• Michel Ferrari and Melanie Munroe


• Chapter 9: Rethinking Our Lives: COVID-19 and the Narrative Imagination


• Molly Andrews


• Chapter 10: The Self and Its Crises


• Jens Brockmeier