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Abstract
One of the largest recent disease outbreaks began in November of 2002. .....hen the
first cases of a disease that wou ld soon be know n as SARS began spreading in Ch ina.
Since then. the SA RS coro navirus has achieved infamy seldom seen among diseases.
s.....eeping through medi a and Internet sources to create a panic that left thousands of
people halfway around the .....orld wearing surgical masks in attempts to protect
them selves from perceived harm.
The goal of this dissertation is to examine and understa nd the narratives that
people told about the SA RS outbreak- the rumors. gossip. legends. jo kes. and other
forms of oral communication. Examining these narratives will provide insights into why
peop le believe the things they do about disea..es, and why narratives both shape and are
shaped hy disease.
A key concept included in this examination involves the reasons behind the
exaggerated. and in many cases disproportionate reactions exhibited by the puhlic. Tied
lip in these reaction.. were issues of race and cthnicity. personal and familial protection.
and fear. all of which were directly influenced by oral narratives. as well as by
information gathered from media sources. Ultimately. sources such as newspapers and
news broad casts can be blamed for the larger part of the hysteria that surrounded the
outbreak. But oral narratives were also culpable. and so a second thrust of this work will
be to examine what steps can be taken to coun teract. or po..sibly preempt these ...ources of
information.