A Journal of the Plague Year
A Journal of the Plague Year is a transcription of Daniel Defoe’s journal of the same name. In retracing Defoe’s writing I am reminded of Jorge Luis Borges’ story, Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote, in which Menard determines not to re-write Don Quixote, but to write The Quixote itself – to immerse himself so thoroughly (learn Spanish, acquire the Catholic faith, fight the Moors…), as to create the text. While I do not harbour the pretensions of M. Menard, I have been struck by how much our present pandemic mirrors, through the behaviour of our citizens (vilification of others, reckless pronouncements including the promulgation of quack remedies etc..), that it seems that we are all in 2020, engaged in the process of writing A Journal of the Plague Year.
