BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP -Pandemics and Literature

Book Discussion Group

Pandemics and Literature: Regional and Global Perspectives

by Kamlesh Mohan and Saurav Kumar Rai

Discussants: Dr. Akshaya Kumar, Professor, English Department, Panjab University;Dr. Madhuri Sharma, Assistant Professor, History Department, Bharati College, Delhi University; Dr. Vivek Sachdeva, Professor, English Department, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University; Dr. Kamlesh Mohan, Professor- Emeritus in History, Panjab University & Editor of the Book; Mr. Saurav K. Rai, Research Officer, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti & Editor of the Book

Moderator: Dr. Amar Farooqui, Former Professor, History Department, Delhi University

About the Book: 

This volume provides a literary-cum-historiographical analysis of epidemics and pandemics. It looks at folklore, tribal folktales, eyewitness accounts, memoirs and missionary writings from India and the west to explore the history of some of the major outbreaks in history. The chapters focus on the impact of outbreaks such as plague, cholera, malaria, tuberculosis and COVID-19, upon the material life of people, their social dislocation and their complex responses to such crises. The book studies the role of pandemics in pushing scientists, social actors and littérateurs to develop new paradigms in knowledge generation, theories of environmental dislocation and the economic slide. It examines themes such as changes in the perception of epidemic diseases across different periods of history, popular responses to state intervention during epidemics, gendering epidemics, as well as the impact of rumours during epidemics.