Opposite Directions: How the Pandemic Fuels Nationalism and Universalism

Mads Rosendahl Thomsen

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Chapter 12 Opposite Directions

How the Pandemic Fuels Nationalism and Universalism

In: World Literature in and for Pandemic Times

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Mads Rosendahl Thomsen

Mads Rosendahl Thomsen
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 169–182

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004744622_013

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Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic is a powerful reminder that there is only one humanity and that all individuals are subject to infections and illness. However, news media and the internet are overflowing with data that reminds us of the fact that we are living in an unequal world in which even neighbors close their borders and observe how other countries are faring in the battle against the virus. Literature is no stranger to these opposing orientations, between local and global, national and universal. This essay will address some of the historical uses of global issues in literature and how they play a particular role in world literature, as well as comparing them to the current situation. Traumatic literature is of particular concern in terms of representation and decorum, and the formal inventiveness that this demands and inspires.

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World Literature in and for Pandemic Times

Series: Textxet: Studies in Comparative Literature, Volume: 110

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004744622

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 08 Oct 2025

Subjects
- Literature and Cultural Studies

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African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

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Chapter 12 Opposite Directions

How the Pandemic Fuels Nationalism and Universalism

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World Literature in and for Pandemic Times

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