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Epidemics, Leprosy, and Hope in Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case.

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Title: Epidemics, Leprosy, and Hope in Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case.
Authors: CHANG, HAWK1 htcchang@eduhk.hk
Source: 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies. Sep2024, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p67-79. 13p.
Subject Terms: *COVID-19 pandemic, Patients' attitudes, Hansen's disease, Epidemics, Boredom
People: Greene, Graham, 1904-1991
Abstract: Graham Greene is a critically acclaimed British novelist in twentieth-century literature. In his epidemic narrative A Burnt-Out Case (1977), Querry, a world-famous European architect, loses his faith in work and the Catholic religion and escapes to the leprosy-infected Congo. Querry's ennui makes him a de facto spiritual leper. Such an analogy often demonizes disease and normalizes people's perception of epidemics, simultaneously misrepresenting patients' various experiences. Nonetheless, the traditional stigmatization imposed on the Other, such as lepers in the Congo, does not merely necessitate the agony of the infected. Rather, epidemics often entail the victim's epiphany and turn the sufferers' pain into pleasure and their desperation into inspiration. Querry's retrieval of faith in life and humanity illustrates this empowerment. This paper argues that epidemics and people's responses to them alert us to a deconstructive power inherent in contagion. Epidemics are threatening and fearful, but they also enable humans to reexamine their lives and refresh their sympathetic understanding of human suffering. G. Greene's (1977) A Burnt-Out Case brings forth a timely version of people's regained humanity through suffering and disease, something urgently needed in the (post-)COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies is the property of 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 180453562
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  Data: Epidemics, Leprosy, and Hope in Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22CHANG%2C+HAWK%22">CHANG, HAWK</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> htcchang@eduhk.hk</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%223L%3A+Southeast+Asian+Journal+of+English+Language+Studies%22">3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies</searchLink>. Sep2024, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p67-79. 13p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22COVID-19+pandemic%22">COVID-19 pandemic</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Patients'+attitudes%22">Patients' attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hansen's+disease%22">Hansen's disease</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Epidemics%22">Epidemics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Boredom%22">Boredom</searchLink>
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– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Graham Greene is a critically acclaimed British novelist in twentieth-century literature. In his epidemic narrative A Burnt-Out Case (1977), Querry, a world-famous European architect, loses his faith in work and the Catholic religion and escapes to the leprosy-infected Congo. Querry's ennui makes him a de facto spiritual leper. Such an analogy often demonizes disease and normalizes people's perception of epidemics, simultaneously misrepresenting patients' various experiences. Nonetheless, the traditional stigmatization imposed on the Other, such as lepers in the Congo, does not merely necessitate the agony of the infected. Rather, epidemics often entail the victim's epiphany and turn the sufferers' pain into pleasure and their desperation into inspiration. Querry's retrieval of faith in life and humanity illustrates this empowerment. This paper argues that epidemics and people's responses to them alert us to a deconstructive power inherent in contagion. Epidemics are threatening and fearful, but they also enable humans to reexamine their lives and refresh their sympathetic understanding of human suffering. G. Greene's (1977) A Burnt-Out Case brings forth a timely version of people's regained humanity through suffering and disease, something urgently needed in the (post-)COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies is the property of 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.17576/3L-2024-3003-05
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 13
        StartPage: 67
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      – SubjectFull: COVID-19 pandemic
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Patients' attitudes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hansen's disease
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Epidemics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Boredom
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Greene, Graham, 1904-1991
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Epidemics, Leprosy, and Hope in Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case.
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            – D: 01
              M: 09
              Text: Sep2024
              Type: published
              Y: 2024
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