Plague as Art: Over the Centuries, Many Kinds of Stories

Lauren Beukes is a writer who likes to tells stories about power between men and women. Her new book "Afterland," will tell the story of a disease that kills almost the entire male population.

"I wanted to explore what a world without men would look like and how it wouldn't necessarily be a better place," says Beukes. She began her book years before the coronavirus outbreak.

Lawrence Wright is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. He says he got the idea for his new book from the filmmaker Ridley Scott. Scott asked him years ago after reading Cormac McCarthy's dystopian "The Road": "How could social order break down so much after a disaster?" His upcoming novel, "The End of October," describes an international outbreak that begins in Asia.

He says people have become so worried about terrorism that they have forgotten the power of natural disasters.

Plagues have been with us for at least as long as people have been able to write about them. But among artists and writers, their meaning has changed a lot based on the writer and the period.

Once an outbreak was believed to be a punishment from God. People were punished for sinning in some way. However, outbreaks also allow us to see that there is good and bad in all humans.

For the Greek historian Thucydides, the plague that nearly destroyed Athens proved to him that praying made little difference, and men could easily break the law or become violent during a crisis.

Edgar Allan Poe showed the arrogance¹ of trying to defy disease in "The Masque of the Red Death."

Stephen Soderbergh made the movie "Contagion²" about ten years ago to show how easily society can come apart.

Many artists found a voice painting the Black Plague of the Middle Ages. They showed frightening deaths as well as images of Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch whose presences were meant to comfort the families of the dead.

"Saint Sebastian had survived being shot with arrows, and Saint Roch was believed to have survived...the plague, so you often see them appearing in art," says C. Griffith Mann. He is head of the Department of Medieval Art at the Metropolitan³ Museum of Art.

Also during the Middle Ages, the writer Bocaccio wrote "The Decameron," that describes how young women and young men flee from the plague. Alone in a great house, they tell each other stories to pass the time.

Boccaccio knew "what we would/could do in the time of the plague: We need to escape from our 'real' world," says Wayne A. Rebhorn. He is the head of the English department at the University of Texas at Austin.

"If the plague shows just how desperate and fragile human life can be, stories offer a way to cope with that desperation," he says.

Plague books can be a way of looking at the way societies change. The 1665 plague in London was the subject for Daniel Defoe's "A Journal of the Plague Year." It was published many years after the plague struck. Auburn University professor Paula Backscheider says Defoe's book came out at a time when the Renaissance⁴ was changing the way people looked at religion. They asked the question: Why do human beings suffer?

Defoe was trying to decide if the plague came from God, or if it came from science, Backscheider explained. He wanted to know, if it came from science, how could people protect themselves, she added.

In the 20th century, Albert Camus' "The Plague" was widely seen as a parable⁵ for the Nazi⁶ occupation of France and as a statement about the uncertainty⁷ of life.

Words in This Story

dystopian - adj. a world in which society is repressive

plague - n. a disease that affects many people at one time

arrogance - n. the belief that one person is better than another

sin - n. an evil act

medieval - adj. the time period between the dark ages and the renaissance

fragile - adj. easily breakable

cope - v. to be able to deal with something

Renaissance - n. a time of rebirth, specifically in Europe

parable - n. a simple story used to illustrate⁸ a spiritual lesson.

1 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。

2 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

3 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

4 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

5 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

6 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

7 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

8 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。