Bull Hist Med. 2020;94(4):690-698. doi: 10.1353/bhm.2020.0090.
This essay reconsiders epidemic narratives through the lens of polio to examine temporal shifts and overlapping and conflicting temporalities and assess some of the stakes in how we conceptualize the epidemic dramaturgy. I argue that while the dramaturgy of epidemics serves as a thread around which people, state actors, and institutions organize experiences, responses, and expectations, consideration of the multiplicity of epidemic temporalities is crucial in understanding how medical practice and knowledge are shaped and transferred, particularly with attention to actors that might be rendered invisible by the conventional narrative arc.
本文通过小儿麻痹症的视角重新审视了传染病叙事，考察了时间的转变以及重叠和冲突的时间性，并评估了我们如何概念化传染病戏剧结构的一些利害关系。我认为，虽然传染病的戏剧结构作为一个线索，人们、国家行为体和机构围绕着这个线索来组织经验、反应和期望，但考虑传染病的多种时间性对于理解医学实践和知识是如何被塑造和传递的至关重要，尤其是要关注那些可能被传统叙事弧线所忽视的行为体。
