Vīrusu epidēmija zinātniskās fantastikas žanra literatūrā

Abstract

During the years 2020–2021, the global pandemic caused by the virus Covid-19 has affected the lives of practically everyone on our planet – this situation was unimaginable in the recent past. However, the writers of the science fiction genre have for centuries used the notion of global pandemic or epidemic as the basis of plotlines in their works in order to research human nature under crisis situation. When the civilisation as we know it is apparently destroyed and apocalypse seems to approach, the fear, panic, and survival instincts caused by the disease become factors that reveal the truth: the characters are forced to stop pretending to be better people than they are, and display their real thoughts and emotions. The present paper, “Virus epidemic in science fiction genre works”, is devoted to the analysis of this phenomenon. The first part of the present paper provides an insight into the history of the theme of a pandemic as it has been depicted by several famous writers from medieval times up to the end of the 20th century. The second part of the paper provides an analysis of two popular science fiction novels created during the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century – namely, “The Stand” by American writer Stephen King and “Pandemia” by Russian author Jana Wagner. By finding the common and the different aspects in the ways both writers depict global pandemics, their causes, manifestations, and consequences in their works, the following conclusions can be made: pandemic in science fiction often serves less as means of trying to predict actual global catastrophes or means to create suspenseful plots, but rather as the basis for discussion regarding human emotions created by these unpredictable situations and the ways they affect our humanity, consciousness, and culture.