Guobin Yang's Talk: To Have Theory in a Pandemic, or Not to? Pandemic Storytelling and the Wuhan Lockdown
The lockdown of Wuhan in 2020 was an extraordinary historical event in modern world history. One of its remarkable features was that residents in Wuhan documented their everyday experiences in diaries and shared their stories on social media. Guobin Yang’s book "The Wuhan Lockdown" recounts the drama of the lockdown by drawing on these diaries. Prioritizing the voices of ordinary people, "The Wuhan Lockdown" presents a galaxy of scenes and characters against broader social and historical contexts. To narrate a pandemic that was still unfolding poses multiple challenges. To have theory in a pandemic, or not to? How to have theory, or how not to? This talk introduces the book, discusses its narrative strategies, and reflects on the meaning of social science representation in times of a public health crisis and global geopolitical conflicts.