Vernacular Reactions to COVID-19 in Estonia: Crisis Folklore and Coping

Abstract

The objective of the article is to give an overview of the vernacular reactions to the corona crisis in Estonia, based on COVID-19-related folklore collected from written, oral, and online sources from March to June 2020, i.e., during the emergency situation established due to the coronavirus. The methodological approach of the article was a context-dependent comparative content analysis studying the functioning of thematic texts in the wider trans- and multi-media communicative process. The similarities and modifications in the content, structure, format, and function of the subject matter as well as people’s attitudes, expressions, ways of information synthesis and narrative generation in the respective social context were placed under the microscope. By giving examples of thematic religious lore, memes, and proverbs, we point out how certain core motifs and core texts become actualised whenever a new epidemic occurs. We presume that the recycling of known and tested motifs in order to give meaning to the situation helps mitigate the unpredictability arising from the epidemic and determine the borders of danger and safety with the help of narrative, thereby increasing the sense of coping, although some folk motifs may also create or deepen fears and irrational behaviour.