Abstract
Chapter 2 considers in more detail the growing significance of narrative approaches to health communication on pandemic threats, reflecting on the conceptual bases for this turn in light of perspectives from narrative theory and biopolitical accounts of infectious diseases. Key themes are the folk-tale undercurrents of pandemic narratives that appear in news media and in the advice of experts and therefore also their significance for the individuals who engage with them. A key point is that narrative and its mediations are a primary point of contact for publics coming to know of a rapidly emerging public health crisis. In this respect, we introduce Sarah’s story of how she realized that she was herself possibly at risk of the virus, in part because of stories on the pandemic circulated in media she consumed.
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