This book examines the emergence of a new normal that has structured the lived experiences of individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic through a close reading of graphic medical texts from both digital and print sources. Interdisciplinary in scope and integrating theoretical insights from graphic medicine, health humanities, literary theory, and comics studies, this book scrutinises and interprets the experiences and perspectives of healthcare professionals, frontline workers, patients, and individuals from diverse backgrounds impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through dedicated chapters on masking, sanitization, touch, and altered spatio-temporality, this book investigates the emotional, psychological, and sociocultural implications of these themes, highlighting both universally shared and contextually specific experiences. In particular, the book critically analyses comics that frame the pandemic beyond its immediate biological implications, thus providing readers with a framework to engage with and critically reflect on the COVID-19 crisis. Ishani Anwesha Joshi received her Ph.D. from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. She is currently an independent scholar specializing in Graphic Medicine, Health Humanities, Pandemic Studies, and Comic Studies.
Her research articles have been published in various indexed journals such as Medical Humanities, Visual Studies, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Journal of Medical Humanities, and Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, among others. Sathyaraj Venkatesan is a Professor of English in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, his research focuses on Graphic Medicine, Health Humanities, and American Literature. He has authored nine books and published over hundred research articles in indexed journals. His recent co-authored/co-edited books are India Retold (2021), Infertility Comics and Graphic Medicine (2021), and Pandemics and Epidemics in Cultural Representation (2022).