Dergiler / Transynergy Journal of Translation, Literature and Linguistics / 2024 / Volume 3, Issue 1
A Contemporary Analysis of A Journal of the Plague Year by D. Defoe after the Covid-19 Pandemic in Türkiye
- Sayfa
- 21–31
- DOI
- —
Özet
Abstract A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) is Defoe’s fictitious and retrospective account of the plague which ravaged Britain in 1664-1665 after its break-out in Holland. The epidemic in 1664-1665 has many similarities with the pandemic COVID 19 which hit the world and Türkiye in 2020- 2022 which is believed to have begun in China and quickly spread to other countries. In regard to the book’s accuracy as a historical document, the aim of the paper is to explore A Journal of the Plague Year and to draw analogies between the 1664-1665 endemic in Britain and the COVID-19 outbreak in Türkiye through a comparative analysis of the reactions of the people and the measures taken by the authorities to curb the disease in two eras. The paper also attempts to set parallels between the economic, social, criminal, and administrative panorama of the contagions in 1664-1665 and 2020-2022 by comparing the narrative in the novel with similar issues in the pandemic. The paper concludes that in spite of the fact that the size of the affected areas are not equal, there is a 400–year gap between the diseases, and there are geographical, climatic, and cultural differences between the inflicted counties, Britain and Türkiye, the therapeutic measures applied, the preventive and curative methods the individuals and city officials resorted to in plague-afflicted communities in Britain of the 17th century and Türkiye of the 21st century indicate a lot of similarities with people taking the measures of quarantining, segregation, physical distance, curfews, escape from the crowded cities to rural areas, bans, and certificates.
Abstract
Abstract A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) is Defoe’s fictitious and retrospective account of the plague which ravaged Britain in 1664-1665 after its break-out in Holland. The epidemic in 1664-1665 has many similarities with the pandemic COVID 19 which hit the world and Türkiye in 2020- 2022 which is believed to have begun in China and quickly spread to other countries. In regard to the book’s accuracy as a historical document, the aim of the paper is to explore A Journal of the Plague Year and to draw analogies between the 1664-1665 endemic in Britain and the COVID-19 outbreak in Türkiye through a comparative analysis of the reactions of the people and the measures taken by the authorities to curb the disease in two eras. The paper also attempts to set parallels between the economic, social, criminal, and administrative panorama of the contagions in 1664-1665 and 2020-2022 by comparing the narrative in the novel with similar issues in the pandemic. The paper concludes that in spite of the fact that the size of the affected areas are not equal, there is a 400–year gap between the diseases, and there are geographical, climatic, and cultural differences between the inflicted counties, Britain and Türkiye, the therapeutic measures applied, the preventive and curative methods the individuals and city officials resorted to in plague-afflicted communities in Britain of the 17th century and Türkiye of the 21st century indicate a lot of similarities with people taking the measures of quarantining, segregation, physical distance, curfews, escape from the crowded cities to rural areas, bans, and certificates.