Abstract: Amongst the many spiraling effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic has been an intense interest in finding historical frames of reference for our current predicament. Past epidemics, from the Plague to the Spanish Flu, have been brought back to the public consciousness, both to search for instructive patterns and lessons, and perhaps also as a way to cope with uncertainties and anxieties; a reminder that we have been here before, facing down an unknown disease. This paper unfolds two examples of such narratives of epidemic disease before the a...
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