No Sense of an Ending: Narrating Pandemic Temporalities

Christoph Singer

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Chapter 7 No Sense of an Ending: Narrating Pandemic Temporalities

In: Pandemic Storytelling

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Christoph Singer

Christoph Singer
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 131–146

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004716681_009

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The pandemic mode of living is one of animated suspension, of constant delays and often existential waiting. Whole societies are waiting for the end of lockdowns and of quarantines. People wait for test-results to be sent, for vaccines to be administered and for economic subsidies to be paid out. And they wait to finally meet again their family-members and friends. It is hardly surprising that in light of these experiences, not only physical but also the mental health of many suffered and deteriorated.

For the fortunate, pandemic waiting entails mostly a suspension of pre-pandemic routines and rituals. For the less fortunate, this unpredictable situation and its economic, psychological and physical impact can prove to be an existential threat. Craig Jeffrey suggests the term ‘chronic waiting’ for enduring such unsettling temporalities. Jeffrey explains: “when people are catapulted out of their everyday lives […] the present can come to weigh on the minds of the individual subject as a type of ‘curse’ or ‘burden.’ (Jeffrey 2008: 955)

This experience of enduring the uncertainty that comes with the pandemic is often actually very hard to transform into narrative form – since such a period of waiting is often perceived as eventless and static despite often being perceived as emotionally intense and challenging. This not only affects one’s sense of self but also the possibilities of communicating one’s sense of well-being. In this article I will discuss this conundrum as depicted in a German public service announcement called “Besondere Helden”, a series of online-videos depicting life in lockdown. In doing so, I want to discuss the emergence of a paradoxical waiting-plot, an impasse of narratives in a moment of crisis and its relationship to mental health.

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Pandemic Storytelling

Series: Narratives and Mental Health, Volume: 3

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004716681

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 18 Dec 2024

Subjects
- Literature and Cultural Studies

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Chapter 7 No Sense of an Ending: Narrating Pandemic Temporalities

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Pandemic Storytelling

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