Envisioning a Postpandemic Utopia: A Prospective Blueprint through Literature

Abstract

This paper argues that the study of the pandemic is already or going to be an important part of literary studies. Throughout history, the world has experienced various plagues and pandemics. Pandemics have undoubtedly had a significant impact on the social, cultural, and economic domains, resulting in significant changes in human life. Writers and poets from all around the world have responded to the pandemics by mapping the events that they have experienced and commenting on their perilous circumstances. Many seminal books have been published about the devastating effects of plagues and pandemics, which can sometimes wipe out half of a country or a city. COVID-19, a deadly virus supposedly coming from Wuhan, China, is wreaking havoc on the modern world. Every day, the virus kills thousands of people, infects millions, and puts the entire planet at risk. Contemporary writers and poets are also producing amazing fiction and poetry in response to the crisis and in search of methods to heal and survive. The paper examines how humans survive pandemics, seek ways to cure themselves, and what it means to study literature during a pandemic, drawing on significant works created on the effects of pandemics in different periods of history. The paper also briefly examines and remarks on how modern writers and poets are confronting and recording their experiences in the current world of corona in their art.