Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2021;1318:673-686. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-63761-3_37.
Stories and narratives are part of our human sociocultural history, which are always preserved in what I call "societal memory." We construct stories to weave meanings that help us make sense of our lifeworlds. Like stories, rumors and conspiracy theories can offer deep meanings when analyzed in specific contexts. Such narratives become most prominent in times of looming uncertainties, anxieties, and fears. Thus, the challenging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become surrounded by plentiful rumors and conspiracy theories. These narratives reveal geopolitics when they code the pandemic as "bioengineered." They also demonstrate local concerns, as in Pakistan, people started drinking "miraculous" tea as a form of prevention, shaving their heads, and/or praying to God to undo his "punishment." Some conceptualized the pandemic as an invented "plot." These narratives seem to empower individuals to make sense of this pandemic and to deal with its multidimensional effects: they allow them to feel confident enough to go outside and earn their livelihood. In this chapter, the author builds on his long-term ethnographic fieldwork on infectious diseases, recent telephone interviews, and content analysis of the media to discuss narratives revolving around COVID-19 in Pakistan. The author argues that these rumors and conspiracy theories are social phenomena pregnant with multiple meanings that deserve to be thoroughly explored, especially by anthropologists. A dearth of understanding about COVID-19 and narratives surrounding it would substantially impede the strategies to deal with this ongoing pandemic.
故事和叙事是我们人类社会文化历史的一部分，它们总是保存在我所说的“社会记忆”中。我们构建故事来编织意义，帮助我们理解我们的生活世界。像故事一样，谣言和阴谋论在特定背景下分析时可以提供深刻的意义。当出现迫在眉睫的不确定性、焦虑和恐惧时，这些叙事就会变得最为突出。因此，具有挑战性的 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行周围充斥着大量的谣言和阴谋论。这些叙事将大流行编码为“生物工程”，揭示了地缘政治。它们还展示了当地的关注，例如在巴基斯坦，人们开始饮用“神奇”的茶作为预防措施，剃光头，祈祷上帝撤销他的“惩罚”。有些人将大流行概念化为一种发明的“阴谋”。这些叙事似乎使个人有能力理解这种大流行，并应对其多维度的影响：它们使他们有足够的信心外出谋生。在这一章中，作者基于他对传染病的长期民族志实地研究、最近的电话访谈以及对媒体内容的分析，讨论了巴基斯坦围绕 COVID-19 的叙事。作者认为，这些谣言和阴谋论是充满多重含义的社会现象，值得深入探讨，尤其是人类学家。对 COVID-19 及其周围的叙述缺乏了解，将严重阻碍应对这一持续大流行的策略。
