The COVID-19 pandemic that has raged across the world since late 2019 is unprecedented on many grounds. Like previous pandemics, it has been widespread spatially and temporally. Like all pandemics in recorded history, it has also brought disease and death to millions. However, the nature of the virus and its adaptability to different environmental and climactic conditions have been unlike other pandemics in human history. With time, the virus has undergone mutation at multiple levels, and the extent of mutation is not fully known. This pandemic is no longer just a medical disease; it has evolved into a social malaise. Stigmas are associated with the disease as the pandemic has exposed the simmering fissures in human society and human relationships. As a consequence, the imprints left behind by the novel coronavirus in the lives of people are multidimensional and constantly evolving.
Three recent essays—“Paravictorianism: Mary Shelley and Viral Sovereignty,” by...
