From plague to plague: COVID‐19 and the New Decameron(s)

Abstract

AbstractThis article reflects on the role of narration in times of crisis. Drawing on studies on storytelling and bibliotherapy, it compares the Decameron, a collection of short stories written during and immediately after the 1348 Black Death, with two Decameron‐based collections written during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic: The New York Times Magazine's The Decameron Project: 29 Stories From the Pandemic and Nuovo Decameron. The article argues that narration has two ways of relating to times of crisis: as an escape from reality and as a therapeutic means of overcoming trauma. Both ways emphasize that storytelling is a future‐oriented tool that can have a positive impact on both the individual and the community: sometimes finding unexpected silver linings, sometimes making sense of a reality that seems surreal. In this sense, the article concludes, the narration is a process of choral reconstruction that brings life back to the stage.