Abstract
In November 2021, August Bover (Barcelona 1949) published the collection of poems El Contagi. His previous poetic works include En pèlag d'amor (1999); L'hivern sota el Cadí (2001); Mojave (2006); the bilingual anthology Vicino al mare (2006); Terres de llicorella. Imatges del Priorat (2008); the trilogy Cloc! (2011), Beabà (2014), and Tornaveu (2018); and the collection of poetry and prose Blau marí (2018). El Contagi contains 41 poems which, with the exception of the last one (“Senyal?”), were composed between March and June 2020, during the lockdown that was decreed in an attempt to contain contagions in the first phase of the pandemic. This contribution synthesises the results of the study of the text, according to the methodology based on the objectivisation, problematisation, and literarisation of the experience of the pandemic and its psychological consequences. This kind of investigation focuses on the use of literature as a therapeutic tool, in order to face, process, and progressively overcome the trauma caused by this impactful experience.
TopIntroduction
In November 2021 August Bover (Barcelona, 1949) published the collection of poems El Contagi [The Contagion]. In it, the author expresses his experience of the pandemic and isolation through the filter of poetry. In this way, the act of poetic composition and the resulting verses make it possible to express and convey thoughts, sensations, and feelings, both positive and negative, but also acquire a therapeutic function. Al this turns into a therapy of the self, which becomes a collective therapy through sharing a common experience, even and especially in a dramatic moment like the one from which these verses are inspired. Thus, poetry becomes a space of freedom, a self-managed perimeter, in which to allow joys and fears, hopes and frustrations to emerge and flow, to shape and communicate to oneself and to readers an unprecedented, unimaginable experience, to objectify and observe it from the outside, and to transform it into a starting point for reflection on known and unknown aspects from a subjective and collective perspective. This double vision, individual and shared, derives from a common experience, from thoughts and states of mind that have affected each individual as well as the entire global community, which was (and still is) sharing an epochal and difficult phase in the history of the planet and of mankind.
August Bover gives form to all this through the poetic word, which becomes the instrument for (self-)therapy, a reflection so profound that it seems to be a process of self-analysis. This is the way to start dealing with the unknown and the unimaginable: how to live through and survive an epoch-making event such as the one the planet is experiencing from the early 2020s, and to do so through writing. Literature, in this case poetry, reveals this component, that at first glance might be surprising, but that constitutes its essence: its cathartic and curative, therapeutic and almost thaumaturgical power, which emanates from the balm of the writer's (narrator, poet, playwright) words.
These pages summarize the results of the El Contagi [The Contagion] study from this perspective: how literature, more specifically poetry, proves to be a therapeutic tool for the author and the reader. This happens thanks to a mechanism of objectification, problematization and literalization of the trauma, of what strikes and upsets in the depths and nevertheless, and precisely for this reason, needs to be addressed. This collection of poems also fulfils this function, as do other works of other genres (fiction, drama, graphic novels, etc.), that have been written since the first phase of the pandemic and have sometimes been published online and then in print or have appeared directly in print. The results confirm the assumptions of this type of research and recognize the added value of these texts, in addition to their artistic-literary and aesthetic relevance, the poignancy of the themes dealt with, and the peculiar strength of this artistic individuality, the expression of a voice that is always powerful and always different.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Reader Involvement: The process of actively involving the Reader in the communication act, in order to increase their engagement with the message. Its aim is to inspire awareness (and dissent), stance and even action.
Bibliotherapy: Also referred to as book therapy, poetry therapy or therapeutic storytelling, it is a creative arts therapy modality that involves storytelling or the reading of specific texts with the purpose of healing. It uses an individual’s relationship to the content of book as therapy.
COVID-19 Pandemic: Pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The WHO declared the outbreak of a public health emergency of international concern in January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020.
PPE – Personal Protective Equipment: The COVID-19 pandemic has touched almost every continent. PPE is the final line of protection. There is variation as well as controversy of infection control recommendation with regards to the use of PPE between institutions. PPE is part of the measure within a package of prevention and control of pandemic.
ICT in Education: ICT enables the use of innovative educational resources and the renewal of learning methods, establishing a more active collaboration of students and the simultaneous acquisition of technological knowledge. ICT can complement, enrich, and transform education for the better.
Isolation During COVID-19 Pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic is assumed to have caused an increase in the number of socially isolated people. Social Isolation was defined as less frequent contact with people other than co-residing family members. Mental health outcomes of such situation include psychological distress, suicidal ideation, loneliness, and fear of COVID-19.
Soliloquy: An act of speaking one’s thoughts mentally or even aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers. Expression of the self in which the subject expresses his thoughts or feelings mentally or aloud while either alone or with others keeping silent.