What is Remembered in Pandemic: A Commentary on the Mediated Memories of Piety in COVID-19

Title

What is Remembered in Pandemic: A Commentary on the Mediated Memories of Piety in COVID-19

Creator

Vijayaraghavan A.P.; Chattaraj D.

Description

The paper explores how the experiences of the present pandemic are shaped by the memories of popular religious piety during past pandemics and epidemics. Taking insights from the works of Astrid Erll and Reinhart Koselleck, the process remembering-imagining system within the context of the pandemic is discussed by tracing the reemergence of pandemic deities and narratives of piety in India. Using digitally documented and disseminated narratives on piety emerging during COVID-19, an attempt is made to understand how these narratives shape the experiences, responses, and collective memory of the pandemic. Through a discussion of the shift in the imagination of political leadership and the moral responsibilities of the community, an attempt is made to highlight the mode in which the narratives on piety shape the contours of a time that is otherwise unimaginable. The mediated memories of popular religious piety make it possible to remember similar crisis times and to imagine and reinstate the social order that is threatened by this sudden unimaginable crisis. The paper thus argues that within the context of India, popular religious piety, though often overlooked, becomes a significant part of making sense and shaping the experiences of the pandemic time. 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Source

Society, Vol-59, No. 4, pp. 366-372.

Date

2022-01-01

Publisher

Springer

Subject

COVID-19 and society; Gender studies; Memory studies; Pandemic and its imaginations; Popular religious piety; Women politicians

Coverage

Vijayaraghavan A.P., Department of English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, Room No. 662, Bannerghatta Main Rd, Pai Layout, Hulimavu, Karnataka, Bangalore, 560076, India; Chattaraj D., Department of English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, Room No. 661, Bannerghatta Main Rd, Pai Layout, Hulimavu, Karnataka, Bangalore, 560076, India

Rights

All Open Access; Bronze Open Access; Green Open Access

Relation

ISSN: 1472011

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-022-00707-x

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