Volume 19, No. 2, 2022
COVID-19 Infodemic: A New Historicist Analysis Of Atwood’s Oryx And Crake
Dr. Uzma Imtiaz , Fatima Humda , Rabia Ramzan
Abstract
This research intends to explore the current calamitous situation of Covid-19 in the context of Oryx and Crake, mirroring how Covid-19 and Oryx and Crake are linked through the perception of unification and the consciousness of the world as a whole by holding the entire world hostage. It vigorously examines the disease being presented as a weapon of mass destruction, followed by a conspiracy theory, the reality of the present and fancy of the future, generating a feeling of mingled contradiction, a psychological aspect, and stout human response to the unpredicted as some shared themes between the two. The potential strength of the New Historicism was found applicable in contextualizing COVID-19 and Oryx and Crake, which explore and project forward the biotechnological, social, political, cultural, economic, and climatic givens of the pandemic ridden world. It involves a parallel study of a literary work, interpreting events as the products of time. The textual interpretation was based on observation of historical context to see how following pandemics of the past may allow today’s world to detect the fundamental causes of such diseases. Understanding the pandemic through intellectual history highlighted the consequences of unscrupulous exploitation of bio-engineering threats, a sense of uncertainty, fear, and insecurity, biotech corporations, and marketing genetically engineered life forms. The study optimistically concludes that COVID-19 can be considered a wake-up call of nature, an undeniable part of the very survival. It puts forward the challenge to be considerate of the dire need of confronting the disrespect of human dignity and moral dilemma brought by scientific developments. It raises ethical concern, verbalizing that science is a human activity, and relates to human values, therefore, it is capable of ethical evaluation.
Pages: 9898-9923
Keywords: Covid-19, Pandemic, Infodemic, New Historicism, Scientific developments, Ethical concern, Socio-economic Implications, Worldwide Cooperation