МОТИВИ ЕПІДЕМІЇ ТА ПАНДЕМІЇ В ЛІТЕРАТУРНО-МЕДИЧНОМУ ДИСКУРСІ ПРОЗИ США

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine the narrative representation of epidemics in the 20th century U.S. literature, using the methods of narratological analysis and receptive aesthetics. The study relies on the corpus of the 20th century U.S. novels: Scarlet Plague (1912) by Jack London, Earth Abides (1949) by George R. Stewart, I am Legend (1954) by Richard Matheson, The Stand (1978) by Stephen King, Contagion (1996) by Robin Cook, and Darwin’s Radio (1999) by Greg Bear. The aspects of epidemic representation in fiction have been studied using modern literary criticism research in the areas of narratology and receptive aesthetics, which determines the relevance of the present paper. The motif is rooted in the 19th-century Romantic literature (E.A. Poe’s fiction); it acquires further extensive development in the 20th century science fiction, horror, post-apocalyptic (dystopian) and contemporary medical thriller genres. In the second half of the 20th century, by using the motifs of epidemic and pandemic, the writers contemplate upon the issues of science, its capacities, limitations and potential hazards. In the frame of examined novels, the pandemic topos serves as a tool for «reloading» the human population on earth, «resetting» humanity and bringing it back ad fonts. It also acts as a reminder about the dangers of negligence and misuse of research advances. In such a manner, the authors caution the readers against the potential dangers of the 20th-century advances. In the light of COVID-19 pandemic, the study of the literary depiction of this motif in national literatures and different historical periods becomes especially relevant, because it allows us to re-consider this phenomenon and thus to try to help the mankind to learn one's lesson and perhaps avoid similar calamities in the future.