Discordant Pandemic Narratives in the U.S.

Shing-Ling S. Chen is professor of mass communication in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Northern Iowa.Nicole Allaire is associate teaching professor in the Department of English at Iowa State University.

Discordant Pandemic Narratives in the U.S.,edited by Shing-Ling S. Chen and Nicole Allaire, is a well-organized collection of nine tightly written and informative essays by over a dozen scholars, examining various responses to a medical crisis. This collection seamlessly blends contemporary political discourse with an emphasis on narrative research. It not only consists of precise analysis of complex forms of storytelling by people in positions of power, but provides insightful, definitive, and eye-opening accounts of how crisis communication styles become constructed, maintained, and mediated across space and time.

• Introduction: Discordant Narratives and Social ChaosShing-Ling S. ChenChapter One: Economy vs. Public Health: Discordant Leadership Narratives in the PandemicShing-Ling S. Chen and Zanetta Miller Chapter Two: Mandates vs. No Mandates: Communitarianism and Libertarianism in the PandemicMelissa L. Beall and Shing-Ling S. Chen Chapter Three: Religious Freedom vs. Public Health: Discordant Legal Narratives in the PandemicJuliet Dee Chapter Four: Domestic Disjointed Narratives of the Pandemic: The Critical Early MonthsRachel KaplanChapter Five: Historical vs. Ahistorical Narratives of The Pandemic: The Discordant Rhetoric of Our Unprecedented TimesJohn J. Rief Chapter Six: Discordant Rhetorical Responses: Crisis Communication in Sports Organizations in the Covid-19 PandemicTyler Welsh, R. Tyler Spradley, and Elizabeth SpradleyChapter Seven: Misinformation, Scandalization, and the Trump Show: Audience Responses to President Trump’s Pandemic NarrativeKristjan Kikerpill Chapter Eight: