Communication Studies during the Pandemic Period

Introduction

A novel is an invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that deals with human experience imaginatively, usually through a connected sequence of events involving a group of persons in a specific setting. Within its broad framework, the genre of the novel has encompassed an extensive range of types and styles: picaresque, epistolary, Gothic, romantic, realist, historical (https://www.britannica.com).

A natural narration can be described as a narration of an event that happened actually; a narration of an event that the narrator truly believes happened; or a narration of a sequence of events that the narrator tries to make us believe by lying. Hence when the narrator tells about what happened to her/him yesterday, ←7 | 8→this is a natural narrative. The artificial narration represents a fictional narrative. Fictional narrations pretend to tell the truth or assert what they say is the truth in a universe of fictional discourse (Eco, 1995: 36). Sometimes the narratives are so real that, years later, the reader is surprised to see the truth in every line when what is written in the novel is also true in real life. The modern world today is characterized by struggles and contradictions. Homogeneity does not exist anywhere, whereas ideological dilemmas, fragmentation, multiple identities exist (Wodak, & Meyer, 2002). These, as well, are reflected in the narratives. Discourses turn into narrations through language. A discoursing is a meta-action and process related to language practices that turn into action through the ideology, knowledge, dialogue, expression, statement way, negotiation, power, and exchange of power. Discourse is related to all aspects of social life, such as social, political, cultural, and economic fields (Sözen, 1999). Language is not a simple definition or tool of communication but a social practice, a process of creating things. Language is at the center of social life and has a life-forming feature. Conversations create the social world constantly and incessantly, so language is not merely a reflection of what is happening (Wood and Kroger, 2000). In this context, discourse is seen as the tools of linguistic material that has structural and contextual consistency and enables individuals to construct meaning in a social context. Emphasis on the construction of sense includes the actional point of view of discourse. Language/speech is an action consisting of three primary components: (1) interpretive or representational meaning (what is said), (2) illocutionary force (what the speaker intends with what she/he says), (3) perlocutionary force/pressure (the effect of the speech on the audience) (Wood & Kroger, 2000). Discourse analysis starts with questions such as, Who speaks, how, and why? Who listens, how do they listen, who keeps quiet? Who writes, how do they write, or who reads, how do they read? It acts from uncertainties but not assumptions. Discourse analysis focused on details is pragmatic. That is, in response to the question of what do people who use language do with language it examines linguistic features in discourse to understand what they do (Sözen, 1999).

Plague epidemics, also described as the Black Death, are at the top of the deadliest epidemics in human history. The plague epidemics in history spread ←8 | 9→with names such as Athens, Antoninus, Cyprus, Justinianus on different dates and caused the deaths of millions of people. One of the large plague outbreaks is the Black Plague Outbreak, which is estimated to have killed 75–100 million people. The plague epidemic, which caused great destruction in Europe between the years 1347 and 1351, started in the southwest of Asia and reached Europe in the late 1340s. The bacteria called Yersinia pestis was thought to cause the epidemic (www.ntv.com.tr).

Throughout history, these outbreaks have not only caused the death of people but also caused great tragedies for survivors and triggered sociological, economic, demographic, and psychological changes.

The panic, anxiety, and fear experienced during the epidemic periods displaced people from their homes. People fleeing epidemics caused a new tragedy. Migrations have paved the way for deaths, the spread of the pandemic to broader geographies, and have adversely affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. While the demographic structure changed during the epidemics, decreased production, economic crises, famine, and diseases caused a hopeless cycle to occur (Yıldız 2014: 97).

On the Novel The Plague

Albert Camus’ novel The Plague deals with the events developed along with a plague epidemic that took place in Oran, a city in Algeria, which was a French colony at the time. In the fiction, which is created using a diary hidden by the author from the beginning of the novel, Camus stated that these diaries belonged to Doctor Rieux, and besides, making use of Jean Tarrou’s notes. The novel starts with a description of the city of Oran. The city is described with its features such as its sameness with other cities, its ugliness, and having people unaware of true love. In this city, only trade is given importance, and it is almost like a prison where it is difficult to die. There is no main character in the novel, but the events take place on the axis of Doctor Bernard Rieux and are reflected through his eyes. Different personalities such as Jean Tarrou, Raymond Rambert, Joseph Grand, Doctor Richard, Priest Paneloux, Doctor Castel, Cottard, Monsieur Othon take place in the work, with their attitudes towards an epidemic and their comparison with each other. Such that the expressions of these characters are in the form of a religion-philosophy debate.

There are many symbols in the book; situations, types, and physical objects represent both themselves on the one hand, and also other things transcending themselves on the other (Cruickshank, 1965:220).

As in the diary, although the dates initially follow a specific order, such as April 16, April 17, April 18, April 25, and April 30, it is interrupted by the spread of the plague. On April 16, Doctor Bernard Rieux ignores the death of a mouse ←9 | 10→on the landing while leaving his office and pushes it with his foot. However, he informs the doorman of the situation, and the doorman states that such a thing is not possible because there are no rats in the apartment. This certainty increases the doctor’s confusion. However, the doorman, who sees three dead rats the next day, states that this is not true and claims that it is a joke to him.

On April 25, the news is published about the gathering of more than 6,200 dead mice. One day, on his way to his office, Doctor Rieux, who heard that the doorman got sick, cannot save him despite his intervention. Other deceases follow. The increase in decease leads to anxiety in society. Doctors cannot / do not want to name this epidemic for a long time. Doctor Castel, the oldest and most experienced of them, convinces Doctor Rieux to admit this epidemic is a plague. The press broadcasting the news about the rats and human deaths on top of the newspaper headlines at the beginning of the incident behaves hesitantly to fully announce the facts, for the reason of not leading the public to anxiety and some other reasons. Due to the uncontrollable rise in deceases, the city is quarantined entirely, and the trains do not stop at the station of this city. Camps are created for people becoming ill for a while. The stadium is the first among them. The treatment process is started with inconvenient conditions and limited facilities to recover the patients in the camp. However, most patients cannot survive this process and die. Especially the death of a child is very painful for doctors, and they are impacted by it for a long time. They do everything they can to save him, but they do not succeed. One of the protagonists actively portrayed in the novel is Father Paneloux and he has very different thoughts from Doctor Rieux. The priest tries to keep his morale high, despite of all the negativities when he invites the people to religion with his sermons in this process. Despite the priest’s efforts, the people turn to prophecies and superstitions and believe in them more. Newspapers highlight and support these prophecies with their article series. The priest becomes ill and dies in the older woman’s house to which he moved. The plague brings poverty with it, and when the impoverished people cannot even meet their basic needs, they start protests. Such that those staying in the camps have to be content with a ladle of meal allocated to them. The plague also changes the content of Christmas celebrations, and Christmas is spent with prayers and rites for the deceased. People are too sad and pray incessantly, crying. Officer Grand, one of the doctor’s friends, contracts the illness in May, and Doctor Rieux becomes surprised to see him recover while he lost hope. The number of those who recover starts to increase. It is understood that Doctor Castel’s serum has an excellent effect on these improvements. Another good news is that dead rats ←10 | 11→are not encountered more often. People who believe that their psychological effects will continue after the plague cannot be happy with such developments. Statistics on January 25 indicate that the plague is about to come to an end. In the meanwhile, Tarrou becomes ill and cannot be saved despite the doctor’s best efforts. The doctor learns that his wife died eight days ago with a telegram he receives. When the diary is over, there is no trace of the plague. The people return to their ordinary life.