Return to normal? Remembered futures and the post-pandemic

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Cultural Studies
• Pandemic Studies

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic presented diverse, uneven experiences across demographics and evolved through distinct phases.
• Societal discourse on 'return to normal' and 'learning loss' risks overlooking the pandemic's complex temporal and lived realities.
• Pandemics disrupt linear time, collapsing past, present, and future, with symptoms and diagnoses often lagging behind actual infection.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce the concept of 'remembered futures'—memories of futures imagined in the past.
• Argue that post-pandemic futures require incorporating these 'past futures' alongside historical memory.
• Explore how acknowledging these remembered futures can unlock new possibilities for the present and future.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of three literary works published in Spring/Summer 2020: Sabrina Orah Mark's 'Happily', Charles Yu's 'Systems', and Nguyên Khôi Nguyễn's 'Bittersweet: A Pandemic Sketchbook'.
• Examining how these works capture the multifaceted experience of the pandemic and its temporal disruptions.
• Connecting literary representations to the theoretical concept of remembered futures.

Main Results:

• The analyzed works reflect the pandemic's uneven social impact and its unique temporal distortions.
• These texts illustrate the co-existence of multiple presents and imagined futures during the pandemic.
• They demonstrate the value of recalling past future imaginings to inform present realities.

Conclusions:

• Post-pandemic recovery necessitates more than just remembering the past; it requires remembering the futures envisioned during the pandemic.
• Integrating 'remembered futures' into our understanding of the present can foster innovative pathways forward.
• This approach offers a framework for building a more resilient and responsive future informed by the pandemic's complex legacy.