Storytelling as Communication and Ritual: Addiction Narrative Through a Blue Lens

Narrative is a ubiquitous feature of social life, one that has benefited from study across numerous disciplines and domains of everyday practice. Notable among these is the study of narrative in the contexts of modem medicine, especially with regard to addiction. This article argues for a view of narrative as communicative: as complex and symbolically constitutive; as purposeful and effective beyond the act of telling; as other-directed; and as subjunctive and potent in instances of uncertainty. After considering the implications for the study of addiction narrative from this perspective, the article reflects on the assemblage of narrative’s performed in the documentary film Through a Blue Lens