Battle for truth: A COVID-19 patient's monologue

Abstract

David Hare tells a Covid-19 patient's experience in his play Beat the Devil: A Covid Monologue staged in 2020. Starting from his own Covid-19 experience, Hare sheds light on an old individual’s Covid-19 process. Since he does not know how the virus influences him, he loses confidence in the health sector and the government's Covid-19 politics. The text shows the older man's lonely struggle for finding the truth in a post-truth era when the truth can be quickly warped through politics and media in an interrelated way. Covid-19 was the last hit of the global problems such as malnutrition, poverty, refugee crisis, AIDS epidemic, access to clean water in a so-called well-developed world in the last century. Despite the scientific advancements, scientists have confronted difficulties understanding the scope of the global problem that humanity faces today. For so long, there have been ongoing discussions on the concept of post-truth and its central role in state politics in terms of economy and policies on the human subject. The critical issue is whether Covid-19 is linked to the politics of ‘power’ and ‘knowledge’ on a political level or a health problem on a scientific level. Hare’s play portrays the untold misery and suffering of millions of people who had to stay home without knowing the scope of the threat outside. This study aims at interpreting the conditions mentioned above in a theoretical way.

Keywords

• Biopolitics
• Covid-19
• David Hare
• post-truth
• power

Hakikat mücadelesi: Bir Covid-19 hastasının monoloğu

Öz

David Hare 2020 yılında sahnelenen Beat the Devil: A Covid Monologue oyununda bir Covid-19 hastasının tecrübesini aktarır. Kendi Covid-19 tecrübesinden hareketle, Hare, yaşlı bir bireyin Covid-19 sürecine ışık tutar. Virüsün kendini nasıl etkilediğini tam manasıyla bilmediğinden, sağlık sistemine ve hükümetin Covid-19 politikalarına inancını yitirir. Metin, hakikatin politika ve medya aracılığıyla birbiriyle bağlantılı şekilde hızla çarpıtılabileceği hakikat-sonrası bir çağda, insanın hakikate ulaşmak için verdiği yalnız mücadelesini gösterir. Sözde gelişmiş bir dünyada, Covid-19 yetersiz beslenme, yoksulluk, mülteci krizi, AIDS hastalığı, temiz suya erişim gibi küresel krizlere son darbesi olmuştur. Bilimsel ilerlemelere rağmen, bilim insanları insanlığın bugün karşı karşıya kaldığı küresel krizin boyutunu anlamakta zorlandılar. Hakikat-sonrası kavramı ve bu kavramın ekonomi ve insan konusundaki politikalar açısından devlet siyasetindeki merkezi rolü üzerine uzun süredir devam eden tartışmalar mevcuttur. Kritik konu, Covid-19'un siyasi düzeyde 'iktidar' ve 'bilgi' siyasetiyle mi yoksa bilimsel düzeyde bir sağlık sorunuyla mı bağlantılı olduğudur. Hare'in metni, aslında dışarıdaki tehdidin boyutunu bilmeden evde kalmak zorunda kalan milyonlarca insanın anlatılmamış sefaletini ve ıstırabını anlatıyor. Bu çalışma, yukarıda bahsedilen koşulları teorik olarak yorumlamayı amaçlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Biyopolitika
• Covid-19
• David Hare
• hakikat-sonrası
• iktidar

Kaynakça

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