Open AccessMental Health in Times of COVID-19: An Exploration of the Representation of Mental Health in Pandemic Literary and Cinematic Narratives
Author(s) -
Aakriti Agarwala,
Manisha Saluja
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
vantage : journal of thermatic analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2582-7391
DOI - 10.52253/vjta.2020.v02i01.06
Subject(s) - mores , mental health , pandemic , representation (politics) , narrative , sociology , psychology , aesthetics , covid-19 , media studies , psychiatry , political science , art , literature , medicine , politics , law , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , pathology
Pandemics though concern the medical health of a certain community or communities, alsohave a significant impact on the mental health of the members of that community. Each sectionof society is affected, albeit differently, in a pandemic. Art and literature engage with andrepresent society and all its mores. In a pandemic as well, these modes of representation assumea special responsibility and role. This paper seeks to analyse the representation of the mentalhealth of individuals and society through literary and artistic mediums. In the case of artisticmediums, cinematic portrayals will be the centre of study. These representations, in turn, affectone’s mental state and understanding of a situation. The paper will thus, study and evaluatecertain literary and cinematic texts, their representation of mental health, and their applicabilityto the COVID-19 pandemic using established theories as supporting material to substantiate theclaims made in the study of the aforementioned works.