Pandemic(s), Crisis, and Bibliotherapy

The Covid-19 crisis has led to a re-definition of our lives and a significant de-stabilization of our mental condition. Research shows that we tend to conceive of challenging realities in terms of war and battle: thus, we have struggled with depression, lower spirits and a lack of human interactions. If so, how can we counteract such depressive tendencies? Although today it seems both writing and reading are efficient in mitigating feelings of loneliness, historical records of the reactions to the Spanish influenza pandemic (1918) reveals that silence and evasion are also possible. Using the method of wide reading, I first examine the divergent responses to crisis. Through close reading, I then explore the manner in which literature may be therapeutic for both writers and readers. Finally, I argue that the literary choices of the reading public, recently re-directed towards auto/biographical fiction, may soon impact on the canon within education. This, in turn, prompts a final hypothesis concerning a generic re-shaping of a future literary canon.