The COVID-19 Pandemic and Memory: Remembrance, commemoration, and archiving in crisis

This book explores how commemorative and archiving practices were shaped, expanded, and developed during the Covid-19 lockdown periods in 2020 and the years that followed, offering a critical and empirical engagement with the abundance of memory to understand memorialization and commemoration of the pandemic.

Format: Hardback
Length: 332 pages
Publication date: 15 December 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

This book provides a comprehensive platform for analyzing commemorative and archiving practices during the COVID-19 lockdown periods in 2020 and the subsequent years. By offering a global perspective on these changes, as well as the continuities that accompanied them, the book engages in a dialogue with the initial responses to the pandemic and its impact on memory and commemoration. Its primary objective is to critically and empirically engage with the vast array of memories associated with the pandemic to understand the memorialization of the pandemic and the commemoration during these times.

What transpired in the world regarding commemorative practices and rituals during the pandemic? How has the COVID-19 pandemic been archived and remembered? What does remembering it entail, and what will its significance be in the future? Where did the surge in COVID memory originate? Who was responsible for its emergence, how did it develop, and in what social contexts did it evolve?

To address these questions, the book employs a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on insights from various fields such as history, sociology, cultural studies, and media studies. It explores the diverse ways in which individuals, communities, and institutions have responded to the pandemic, from the creation of memorials and archives to the development of new forms of digital commemoration.

Through its analysis, the book sheds light on the complex dynamics of memory, commemoration, and the role of technology in shaping these processes. It examines the ways in which the pandemic has challenged traditional commemorative practices and rituals, as well as the opportunities it has created for innovative and inclusive forms of remembering.

The book also raises important ethical considerations related to the preservation and dissemination of COVID-19 memories. It explores the potential risks and benefits of memorialization, the role of the media in shaping public narratives, and the challenges of representing the experiences of marginalized communities.

In conclusion, this book offers a valuable contribution to the study of commemorative and archiving practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. By providing a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective, it seeks to deepen our understanding of the ways in which memory and commemoration are shaped by crises and the potential for transformative forms of remembering in the future.

Weight: 590g
Dimension: 157 x 220 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031345968
Edition number: 1st ed. 2024