Philosophy & Rhetoric Jun 2020

Language in Limbo: Being Suspended between Consolation and Control

Reingard Nethersole University of the Witwatersrand

Abstract

ABSTRACT Forced by the COVID-19 pandemic into lockdown during intercontinental travels, the author finds herself in limbo. With help from literary precedents such as Dante, Boccaccio, and Defoe supported by a brief interrogation of contemporary utterances surrounding the master trope “virus,” she claims a chiasmic relation between the concepts “consolation” and “control.”

Journal
Philosophy & Rhetoric
Published
2020-06-15
DOI
10.5325/philrhet.53.3.0306
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (6)

  1. Alighieri, Dante. 2012. The Divine Comedy, Complete. The Vision of Paradise, Purgatory and Hell. Trans. Rev. …
  2. Boccaccio, Giovanni. 2007. The Decameron. Trans. John Payne. www.gutenberg.org/files/23700/23700-h/23700-h.htm.
  3. Defoe, Daniel. 2020. A Journal of the Plague Year. www.gutenberg.org/files/376/376-h/376-h.htm.
  4. Lepore, Jill. 2020. “Don't Come Any Closer: What Can We Learn from the Literature of Contagion?” New Yorker, …
  5. Merkel, Angela. 2020. “An Address to the Nation by Federal Chancellor Merkel.” www.bundeskanzlerin.de/bkin-en…
Show all 6 →
  1. Thamm, Marianne. 2020. “Room Travel: Go Where You Like When You Like—Nelson Mandela Did, in His Mind.” Maveri…
CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network → Build reading path →