Under the Sign of Pandemic

The present paper aims to chronologically and comparatively present the evolution of human behavior, from the first recorded pandemics to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are interested in the attribution of these infectious disease’s origin, as well as in the literary and artistic manifestations that repr...

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Main Author: Andreea SCRUMEDA
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Moldova State University 2023-04-01
Series:Dialogica: Revistă de Studii Culturale și Literatură
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dialogica.asm.md/articolePDF/Dialogica_01_2023_scrumeda.pdf
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author Andreea SCRUMEDA
author_facet Andreea SCRUMEDA
author_sort Andreea SCRUMEDA
collection DOAJ
description The present paper aims to chronologically and comparatively present the evolution of human behavior, from the first recorded pandemics to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are interested in the attribution of these infectious disease’s origin, as well as in the literary and artistic manifestations that represented these disasters. While in the Antiquity the pagan philosopher Porphyry of Tire lamented the rise of Christianity, blaming it for the appearance of the plague, in Middle Ages Europe, Christians looked for scapegoats among the religious minorities. Epidemics and pandemics also proved to be an irresistible subject for many writers; in visual arts, the Great Plague of the Middle Ages inspired the iconographic theme Danse Macabre. Today, movies deal with this topic from an apocalyptic perspective, thus marking a return to the ancient conceptions of plagues. We also find that, from the Middle Ages to the present day, the popular reactions are broadly the same, including negationism, misinformation and mistrust of authorities. Apart from questionable cures, the tendency to reject sanitary measures has also been survived, especially since social media currently provide a huge amount of right and of false information, hard to classify.
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spelling doaj.art-945d9f7909ca4042a943b04151fcf0be2023-05-08T11:15:24ZengMoldova State UniversityDialogica: Revistă de Studii Culturale și Literatură2587-36951857-25372023-04-01V1101107https://doi.org/10.59295/DIA.2023.1.12Under the Sign of PandemicAndreea SCRUMEDA0https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1881-4044Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din IaşiThe present paper aims to chronologically and comparatively present the evolution of human behavior, from the first recorded pandemics to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are interested in the attribution of these infectious disease’s origin, as well as in the literary and artistic manifestations that represented these disasters. While in the Antiquity the pagan philosopher Porphyry of Tire lamented the rise of Christianity, blaming it for the appearance of the plague, in Middle Ages Europe, Christians looked for scapegoats among the religious minorities. Epidemics and pandemics also proved to be an irresistible subject for many writers; in visual arts, the Great Plague of the Middle Ages inspired the iconographic theme Danse Macabre. Today, movies deal with this topic from an apocalyptic perspective, thus marking a return to the ancient conceptions of plagues. We also find that, from the Middle Ages to the present day, the popular reactions are broadly the same, including negationism, misinformation and mistrust of authorities. Apart from questionable cures, the tendency to reject sanitary measures has also been survived, especially since social media currently provide a huge amount of right and of false information, hard to classify. https://dialogica.asm.md/articolePDF/Dialogica_01_2023_scrumeda.pdfchronicle of disastersbehaviourreligionmiddle agescovid-19
spellingShingle Andreea SCRUMEDA
Under the Sign of Pandemic
Dialogica: Revistă de Studii Culturale și Literatură
chronicle of disasters
behaviour
religion
middle ages
covid-19
title Under the Sign of Pandemic
title_full Under the Sign of Pandemic
title_fullStr Under the Sign of Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Under the Sign of Pandemic
title_short Under the Sign of Pandemic
title_sort under the sign of pandemic
topic chronicle of disasters
behaviour
religion
middle ages
covid-19
url https://dialogica.asm.md/articolePDF/Dialogica_01_2023_scrumeda.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT andreeascrumeda underthesignofpandemic