COVID-19 U SRBIJI IZMEĐU PRIVATNOG I JAVNOG: NARATIVI O BOLESTI I BOLOVANJU I BIOKOMUNIKABILNI MODELI
COVID-19 IN SERBIA BETWEEN THE PRIVATE AND THE PUBLIC: ILLNESS NARRATIVES AND MODELS OF BIOCOMMUNICABILITY

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with illness narratives as one of the layers of the COVID-19 macronarrative. The analyzed material includes print media, television shows, social networks (Facebook, Instagram and YouTube) and narratives collected through interviews. The paper focuses on genre, as well as thematic and pragmatic aspects of illness narratives in various contextual frames. Narratives are presented within the framework of models of biocommunicability (Briggs and Hallin 2016). The results show that nearly all examples are similar in their function of conceptualizing illnesses, in their explicit or hidden educational function; moreover, assessments of the functioning of the healthcare system are nearly always present (either praise or criticism), as are comments and observations related to the current state of public health in the widest sense. Expectedly, issues which garnered more media attention and were subject to many diverse interpretations turned out to be more susceptible to political manipulation. In contrast, individual personal testimonies brought to the fore emotional experiences and other concerns which remained blurred or completely hidden and invisible in the official discourse (the issue of stigmatization, traumatic memories related to illness crises, criticism of the healthcare system, etc.). The multiple pragmatic layers are accompanied by obvious heterophony, in line with the characteristics of the COVID-19 macronarrative as a whole.

• Details
• Contents