Open AccessCOVID-19 Narratives in a Carpatho-Rusyn Village in Transcarpathian Ukraine
Author(s) -
Elena Boudovskaia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
folklorica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1920-0242
pISSN - 1920-0234
DOI - 10.17161/folklorica.v24i.15690
Subject(s) - narrative , covid-19 , pandemic , sign (mathematics) , relation (database) , expression (computer science) , sociology , history , psychology , social psychology , gender studies , linguistics , medicine , philosophy , virology , pathology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , disease , database , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , programming language , outbreak
In a Carpathian village whose tradition I have been studying for a number of years, in pre-COVID-19 narratives about illness, an unexpected illness— especially a potentially fatal one—was often viewed as a sign from above. Depending on the relation between the speaker and the affected person, it might either cast doubt on the person's behavior or indicate an undeserved tragic stroke of fate. Uis paper examines whether that has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. I explore how people in this village talk about the pandemic, and how their narratives fit into, and possibly add to, our understanding of traditional values, supernatural beliefs, and the linguistic expression of these values and beliefs in the village.