The impact of global health crises extends well beyond epidemiological mechanisms, containment measures, and the development of vaccines. The way we make sense of pandemic events is deeply entwined with cultural assumptions and self-definitions. This course examines how pandemics are represented in North-American literary and cultural narratives. We will explore the generic form of plague narratives and their ideological function in delineating the boundaries of health as a measure of belonging and citizenship. We will also consider the role of such stories in imagining utopian and dystopian futures. Spanning pandemic storytelling from the colonial period to COVID-19, the course develops methods of formal and thematic analysis that aim to enrich current debates on viral governance and preparedness in what has been called the new “pandemic era.”
- Teacher: Michael Boyden