10.26686/wgtn.12291104.v1
Giacomo Lichtner
Giacomo
Lichtner
Forbidden mourning: how COVID-19 threatens our collective memory
Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington
2020
Historical Studies
Cultural Studies
Performing Arts and Creative Writing
Literary Studies
Other Language, Communication and Culture
History
Cultural Studies not elsewhere classified
2020-05-13 00:01:01
Journal contribution
https://openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/journal_contribution/Forbidden_mourning_how_COVID-19_threatens_our_collective_memory/12291104
This article reflects on a specific effect of the pandemic response: namely the impossibility of holding funerals. The article connects this especially grievous and emotional aspect to classical concepts of burial and the denial of burial, before arguing that the vulnerability of the elderly to Covi-19 poses an unprecedented threat to societies' collective memory.