THE ABSENCE OF PANDEMIC LITERATURE: RE-EXPERIENCING THE PANDEMIC IN KERR’S UNITY 1918 AND IN CONTEMPORARY TIME

Abstract

Modernist literature had a strong potential for representation and embodiment. It vividly conveyed the reality of the two world wars and the views of the individuals who lived through them. However, there remained one missing chain in all of that representation: the pandemic. The impact of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic on humans was greater than that of the two world wars combined. Yet, it was not highlighted by authors back then and was only briefly and indirectly represented due to its invisibility, unlike war. In later times, pandemic writing had slightly flourished and new works directly reflected the pandemic, such as Kevin Kerr’s Unity (1918). The play seems to mimic our contemporary experience under COVID-19, although it portrays the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. This means that the play shows many similarities and parallels to our life under the pandemic of today, as it demonstrates the similarities between the Spanish flu and COVID-19. This paper reveals part of the causes concealed behind the literary silence of the flu pandemic of 1918. Moreover, it provides a brief comparison between the pandemic in Unity (1918) and the pandemic of today asserting the significance of literary representation of these events.