Epidemic Narratives The Cultural Construction of Infectious Disease Outbreaks in India

Epidemic Narratives contends with a reality that is now increasingly becoming our way of life as new infectious diseases break out and older ones resurface almost every year. Using the approach of interdisciplinary studies, the book examines stories of outbreaks in India, from the late-nineteenth century to the present, in the form of fiction, film, memoir, blogs, media reports and epidemiological accounts, to show how epidemics have been represented in social understanding. These stories bear relevance to our experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to do so for similar outbreaks yet to come. Epidemic Narratives attempts to redress the sparsity of detailed theoretical and analytical scholarship on the subject. The book will be of interest to researchers and students of literature, cultural studies, the history of medicine and public health policy.