Lars-Christer Hydén is Professor of Health Communication at Linköping University, Sweden. His main focus is on the role of narrative in the cultural interplay of illness and health. Jens Brockmeier, a Senior Researcher at Free University Berlin, Germany, is a Visiting Professor in the Psychology Department of the University of Manitoba, Canada, and at the Center for Narrative Research of the University of East London's School of Social Science, Media, and Cultural Science.

• 1. Introduction: From the Retold to the Performed Story Lars-Christer Hydén and Jens Brockmeier 2. Language, Experience, and the “Traumatic Gap”: How to Talk About 9/11? Jens Brockmeier 3. Broken and Vicarious Voices in Narratives Lars-Christer Hydén 4. Talking About the Unthinkable: Neurotrauma and the “Catastrophic Reaction” Maria I. Medved & Jens Brockmeier 5. Stories That Are Ready to Break Cheryl Mattingly 6. Globally Distributed Silences, and Broken Narratives about HIV Georg Drakos 7. Taking Care of the Dead: Broken Narratives of Internment Arthur W. Frank 8. “You Have to Ask a Little”: Troublesome Storytelling about Contested Illness Pia Bülow 9. Break-Up Narratives Margareta Hydén 10. Beyond Narrative: Dementia’s Tragic Promise Mark Freeman. Contributors. Index.