WYOBRAŹNIA APOKALIPTYCZNA W CZASACH ZARAZY
VISIONS OF APOCALYPSE IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC
Author(s): Lech M. NijakowskiSubject(s): Customs / Folklore, Health and medicine and law, Sociology of Culture, Film / Cinema / Cinematography, Theory of Literature, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze
Keywords: apocalypse; post-apocalypse; apocalyptic imagination; popular culture; Efolklore; memes; COVID-19;
Summary/Abstract: This paper was written during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Poland. It provides an analysis of the cognitive situation in the time of epidemic through the lenses of epistemological and methodological positions. It describes the condition of apocalyptic visions and the state of public discourse vis-à-vis the question of the apocalypse. The paper is based on two types of sources. First, a sample of post-apocalyptic pop-culture pieces, including 308 movies and 201 novels and short stories. Second, web folklore, including memes (collected in March and April 2020). The paper argues that we are not witnessing a proliferation of apocalyptic attitudes. Internet users focus mainly on repurposing pop culture clichés (borrowed mainly from post-apocalyptic works) and presenting the secular vision of time as a source of unlimited progress.
Journal: LUD
- Issue Year: 104/2020
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 259-277
- Page Count: 19
- Language: Polish