CORONAVIRUS CHRONICLES IN ITALY: ANOINTERS OF THE XXI CENTURY

© 2020 Marina BAKHMATOVA

2020  — № 1 (19)


Citation link:

Bakhmatova M. N. (2020). Hronika koronavirusa v Italii: «mazuny» dvadcat’ pervogo veka [Coronavirus Chronicles in Italy: Anointers of the XXI Century]. Medicinskaja antropologija i biojetika [Medical Anthropology and Bioethics], 1 (19).


Author info:

Bakhmatova Marina Nikolaevna, Cand. Hist. Sc., PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Ethnology Department of the History Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University.


Keywords: anointer (untore), archetypal reactions, discourse, binary oppositions, epidemic, coronavirus, COVID-19, Italian health care

Abstract. The article reviews the problem of emergence and transformation of the discourse of the so-called “anointers” (“untore”) during the spread of the coronavirus infection in Italy in winter and spring 2020. Historical analogies with the plague years in 1630 Milan (described by the classical Italian writer Manzoni) are elicited, as well as other epidemiological events of the past where the “anointer” concept was involved. The article exposes the facts that influence the transfer of this definition to various social groups and certain categories of Italy’s and other countries’ populations. The article also tracks the dynamics of the emergence and transformation of the respective discourse fields.


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