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Narrating a Global Crisis from Guayaquil in Real Time : Early Literary Responses to the COVID‐19 Outbreak in Latin America
Author(s) -
Medina Cordova Luis A
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bulletin of latin american research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1470-9856
pISSN - 0261-3050
DOI - 10.1111/blar.13172
Subject(s) - latin americans , covid-19 , outbreak , toll , death toll , perspective (graphical) , pandemic , history , political science , economy , economic history , sociology , demography , economics , medicine , art , virology , law , visual arts , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , immunology
This article identifies and provides initial insight into the early literary responses to the COVID‐19 outbreak in Latin America. It focuses on the case of Guayaquil, the epicentre of the pandemic in Ecuador, to examine how writers responded to the health emergency in real time by using online platforms. I argue that, while the virus was spreading, the death toll was rising, and the lockdown was at its most severe, a body of writing deeply engaged with the crisis was taking shape in digital outlets. Its study enables a uniquely contextual understanding of the global crisis from a Latin American perspective.