• About
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Institutional Repository Home
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Institutional Repository Home
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Institutional RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    The 1918 Influenza Pandemic in Literature and Memory

    Hovanec, Caroline Louise
    : https://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/etd-06082009-150551
    http://hdl.handle.net/1803/12501
    : 2009-06-10

    Abstract

    Although the outbreak of “Spanish flu” in 1918-1919 has been labeled a “forgotten pandemic,” it has made a significant mark on literature and culture, especially that of the 1930s. This paper examines three works of that decade that address the pandemic: John O’Hara’s short story “The Doctor’s Son,” William Maxwell’s novel <i>They Came Like Swallows</i>, and Katherine Anne Porter’s short novel <i>Pale Horse, Pale Rider</i>. These works treat the flu as a material and historical event and as a figure for other threats to the integrity and boundedness of the human body. “The Doctor’s Son” provides an entry into contextualizing the impact of the flu on the United States. <i>Swallows</i> delves into the possibilities of contagion as metaphor for other kinds of exchange and boundary crossings. <i>Pale Horse, Pale Rider</i> offers a vision of the modern body as marked by illness and injury in even its most normative manifestations. These works are especially relevant in the twenty-first century, as outbreaks of avian and swine flu trigger memories of 1918, and some currents of discourse on contagious disease tend to stigmatize the illness and those who suffer from it.
    Show full item record

    Files in this item

    Icon
    Name:
    HovanecMAThesis.pdf
    Size:
    179.2Kb
    Format:
    PDF
    View/Open

    This item appears in the following collection(s):

    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations

    Connect with Vanderbilt Libraries

    Your Vanderbilt

    • Alumni
    • Current Students
    • Faculty & Staff
    • International Students
    • Media
    • Parents & Family
    • Prospective Students
    • Researchers
    • Sports Fans
    • Visitors & Neighbors

    Support the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries

    Support the Library...Give Now

    Gifts to the Libraries support the learning and research needs of the entire Vanderbilt community. Learn more about giving to the Libraries.

    Become a Friend of the Libraries

    Quick Links

    • Hours
    • About
    • Employment
    • Staff Directory
    • Accessibility Services
    • Contact
    • Vanderbilt Home
    • Privacy Policy