Vol. 16 No. 11 (2021): Literature in the Face of Epidemic Crisis
The recent experience of the COVID-19 epidemic — global in scope, pandemic in nature, and producing a wide range of effects felt by all of humanity, from medical to economic, cultural, and civilizational, as well as on individual, social, and national levels — compelled both immediate action (an urgent task for medical professionals) and deep reflection on the epidemic situation. This reflection extends not only to the fields of epidemiology and virology but also to religion, axiology, and ontology, alongside the discussions dominating all forms of media, clearly visible in journalism, public statements, opinions, reports, interviews, and more. The authors of the studies published in this issue, addressing epidemic-related issues through representative literary and cultural examples from several centuries of Polish and world history — from the Middle Ages to the present day — have presented diverse approaches to the central theme. They have subjected literary texts to scholarly analysis from historical, literary-historical, philosophical, sociological, and psychological perspectives. Despite the diversity of the works analyzed, spanning several centuries, the studies make it possible to identify the laws governing the epidemic universe and to observe enduring mechanisms amid the ever-changing realities of civilizational development.
Published:
2021-12-14
