초록 열기/닫기 버튼
This paper first delves into the intricate correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and global issues surrounding Asianness, particularly the surge in hate crimes against Asians and Asian Americans by analyzing the novel, Ling Ma’s Severance. The pandemic, which originated in China, not only triggered political and economic ramifications but also fueled xenophobia, particularly against Chinese communities in the United States. Concurrently, the escalating tensions between China and the U.S., akin to a New Cold War, further exacerbate the situation. This paper aims to scrutinize this correlation and its impact by analyzing Ling Ma’s speculative fiction, Severance. Published in 2018, Severance presents a speculative post-apocalyptic scenario in the U.S. where a pandemic, originating from China, and climatic disasters have ravaged the country. The novel explores themes such as memory, isolation, global capitalism, and diasporic nostalgia, shedding light on the relationship between the pandemic and Asian heritage. This analysis is particularly relevant as Severance, published before the COVID-19 pandemic, eerily anticipates a world where Asianness and pandemics are negatively correlated. The paper is divided into two parts: the first section delves into the contextual correlation between the pandemic and hate crimes, as well as the ethical implications of vulnerability. The second part the second part directs its focus towards the novel, employing speculative imagination to analyze the ethical meanings of vulnerability, precarity, and melancholia.
