[Vwoolf] Covid-19 memorials

Sun May 17 12:27:15 EDT 2020

Dear all,

I have been waiting to see if anyone would respond to Manuela, but as no one has, I will bite the bullet and say what needs to be said.

This crisis has thrown into sharp relief the socio-ideological and psychological gulf between the US and Europe, at least the three (Latin, Catholic) countries of Spain, Italy and France (where I live). For a US citizen — of whatever stripe — it must be hard, if not impossible, to imagine the deep shared sense of collective solidarity which has made adherence to the tight restrictions on movement for individuals acceptable. As far as I know there have not been any gatherings to protest at the measures in these countries as here have been across the US (though there have been protests in Germany, Switzerland and now the UK). Such a gathering would be almost unthinkable. Now that the restrictions in France have begun to be lifted the ‘gilets jaunes’ have come out to protest again, but they wouldn’t dream of protesting about the measures. The French would not object to the authorities breaking up a memorial ceremony. Indeed, in France a funeral attended by too many people from too many places was recently found to have caused a local outbreak of cases of Covid19. There was general frustration and anger not with the authorities but with the family that broke the rules. I fully appreciate that Manuela may have found hurtful and unjust the criticism voiced from the other side of the Atlantic. 

Best wishes to all,

Margaret Tudeau
mtudeau at fastmail.fm

https://www.cambridge.org/9781108493734 

> On 15 May 2020, at 08:23, PALACIOS GONZALEZ MANUELA via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:
> 
> Dear fellow Woolfians,
> 
> Since Ellen has mentioned Spain with regard to a memorial ceremony 'broken up by authorities as defying the quarantine', I would like to say that the quarantine has indeed been very strict in Spain and that many of us believe that this strict measure has saved many lives. Breaking the quarantine would probably have been an irresponsible act, considering the consequences. Until now, we have had almost 30,000 dead in a country of 46 million people. The victims have been mainly the elderly but we also have an outrageous number of health personnel infected. This personnel is insistently asking from the rest of the population not to run risks. Staying at home is the way we have to help them.
> 
> I would also like to say that Spanish newspapers and radios have numerous spaces for people to write their stories and say goodbye to their loved ones. It has indeed been very traumatic to lose one's loved ones without mourning them properly. I understand the authorities, as they have confirmed, are waiting for the worst phase of the pandemic to be over to proceed to the necessary memorials. I am confident they will keep their word.
> 
> This is just a bit of news from this side of the Woolfian community. Please stay safe in your respective countries.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Manuela
> 
> 
> Manuela Palacios
> Facultade de Filoloxía / Avda. Castelao s.n / 15782 Santiago de Compostela / Spain / Phone: 696257799 / E-mail: manuela.palacios at usc.es <mailto:manuela.palacios at usc.es> / web: http://irgal.es/ <http://irgal.es/>
> https://crosswinds.nuigalway.ie/ <https://crosswinds.nuigalway.ie/>
> https://discursoeidentidade.com/?lang=en <https://discursoeidentidade.com/?lang=en>
> 
> 
> 
> De: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu>> en nombre de Ellen Moody via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>>
> Enviado: jueves, 14 de mayo de 2020 13:30
> Para: Kllevenback <kllevenback at att.net <mailto:kllevenback at att.net>>
> Cc: eoutka at richmond.edu <mailto:eoutka at richmond.edu> <eoutka at richmond.edu <mailto:eoutka at richmond.edu>>; vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>>; Jane E Fisher <fisher at canisius.edu <mailto:fisher at canisius.edu>>
> Asunto: Re: [Vwoolf] NYTimes: Why Are There Almost No Memorials to the Flu of 1918?
>  
> One of things I've noticed is how little commemoration or memorials there have been of who has died in this pandemic. During wars we get a plethora of lists of who died; remember how Cronkite used to have a list of who died today in Vietnam.  Judy Woodruff on PBS does that.  I saw one ceremony in Spain and it was broken up by authorities as defying the quarantine.
> 
> The only place I have seen this is on PBS: every three or so nights, Judy Woodruff remembers three or four people. She is careful to include ordinary non-heroes, non high ranking people; indeed most of her portraits are of non-famous people.  She has a photo of the person, tells the story of their occupation, a little of their life (as told by the family) and then family and friends. The loss is not just to the person dead but to those whom this person meant a lot to in their lives. I've thought one reason for this silence is there are no general statistics put out by any central authority telling the names and a little about the people who died today. No central sources. 
> 
> People do not like to talk of sickness, illness and then real deaths from sickness. Perhaps Susan Sontag deals with this on her book on illness as a metaphor.
> 
> Ellen
> 
> On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 6:34 AM Kllevenback via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <mailto:vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>> wrote:
> My first instinct was to send this to Jane and Elizabeth—but then I reconsidered.
> 
> Stay safe, be well—
> Karen Levenback
> 
> Why Are There Almost No Memorials to the Flu of 1918?
> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/business/1918-flu-memorials.html?referringSource=articleShare <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/business/1918-flu-memorials.html?referringSource=articleShare>
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad
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