Literary Representation

Pandemics and epidemics have repeatedly disrupted human societies, producing profound consequences for social, political, economic, and cultural life. Literature has documented these disruptions while also transforming experiences of disease, fear, migration, isolation, and social change into powerful narratives and metaphors. This article examines the representation of epidemics and pandemics in Indian and South Asian literature, with particular attention to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Srikanto, Intizar Husain’s Basti, and Fakir Mohan Senapati’s Rebati. Drawing on the concept of the chronotope, the discussion explores how disease outbreaks create moments of disruption that expose existing social divisions while also creating possibilities for transformation. The narratives demonstrate how epidemics intersect with religion, caste, class, gender, migration, patriarchy, and communal relations. In Basti, plague and migration challenge established assumptions concerning religious identity, while Srikanto presents quarantine as a temporary space in which conventional social boundaries are weakened and humanitarian values gain prominence. Similarly, Rebati uses cholera as a metaphor for social resistance to women's education and the persistence of patriarchal beliefs. The article argues that literary representations of epidemics function as cultural records of historical crises and reveal the ways societies respond to uncertainty and disruption. The experience of COVID 19 has further reinforced the relevance of such literary perspectives, demonstrating how disease outbreaks can generate lasting changes in social, cultural, political, and economic life.