In Quarantine with Victor Klemperer

Authors

  • Margaret Scanlan Emerita Professor of English Indiana University South Bend

Keywords:

Quarantine, Covid-19 pandemic, Klemperer, Victor, geography, ideological

Abstract

Recounts the experiencing the Covid-19 quarantine as the imposition of a totalitarian power.  Comparison with Victor Klemperer's real experience of having his movements restricted by the Naziis, the effects on his morale of the confinement and how he coped.  Notes resemblances between American experiences of being subject to illogical whims of Donald Trump to experiences of powerless Jews speculating about what their government would do next.

Author Biography

Margaret Scanlan, Emerita Professor of English Indiana University South Bend

Emerita Professor of EnglishIndiana University South BendSouth Bend IN 46615

References

Aronson, L. (2020) ‘”Covid-19 Kills Only Old People.” Only?’ New York Times, 22 March 2020. [Online] [Accessed 17 November 2020] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/ 03/22/opinion/coronavirus-elderly.html

Bump, P. (2020) ‘It Isn’t Only the Elderly Who Are at Risk from Coronavirus.’ Washington Post, 24 March 2020. [Online] [Accessed 17 November 2020] www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/24/it-isnt-only-elderly-who-ask-rich-coronavirus/

Klemperer, V. (1997) Ich will Zeugnis ablegen bis zum letzten: Tagebucher 1933-1945. Eds. Nowojski, W. and Klemperer, H. Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag.

whitehouse.gov (2020) ‘Remarks by President Trump in Press Briefing.’ 1 May 2020. [Online] [Accessed 17 November 2020] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/ remarks-president-trump-protecting-americas-seniors/

Zizek, S. (2020) Pandemic: Covid-19 Shakes the World. London: Polity Press.

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Published

2020-12-23

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Thinking Space

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