Category Archives: Mandel (Emily St. John)

Post of the Year: Plagues in Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: December 30, 2020

A survey of literature through the ages that has dealt with plagues.

Also posted in Atwood (Margaret), Camus (Albert), Defoe (Daniel), Erdrich (Louise), King (Stephen), Porter (Katherine Anne), Sophocles, Virgil | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On Rereading During a Pandemic

By Robin Bates | Published: May 19, 2020

In three articles on rereading great literature during difficult times, two discuss how it reassures them and the third that literature isn’t meant to reassure.

Also posted in Faulkner (William), Johnson (Samuel) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Literary Survey of What Plagues Mean

By Robin Bates | Published: April 19, 2020

A survey of how literary authors have grappled for meaning in times of pestilence bolsters our own search. I look at Sophocles, Virgil, Defoe, Porter, Camus, King, Mandel, Atwood, and Erdrich.

Also posted in Atwood (Margaret), Camus (Albert), Defoe (Daniel), Erdrich (Louise), King (Stephen), Porter (Katherine Anne), Sophocles, Virgil | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When Millenarians Meet a Pandemic

By Robin Bates | Published: April 3, 2020

Mandel’s “Station Eleven” predicts the kind of religious language we can expect to hear from some as the pandemic deepens. It’s not pleasant.

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The Bard Answers Pestilence’s Challenge

By Robin Bates | Published: April 3, 2020

In Emily St. John Mandel’s dystopia “Station Eleven,” people turn to Shakespeare in a world that has been devastated by pandemic.

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