DAY 83 How pandemics have inspired art, music and literature
inspire /ɪnˈspaɪə(r)/ v
1> to give somebody the desire, confidence or enthusiasm to do something well
2> to give somebody the idea for something, especially something artistic or that shows imagination
Certain themes recur over the centuries. The art inspired by covid-19 may be no different
recur over
recur [rɪˈkɜː(r)] vi. 复发；重现；采用；再来；循环；递归
to happen again or a number of times特定的主题 Certain themes
1 WHEN TOURISTS return to Florence, some will wander into its cathedral and be struck by Andrea del Castagno’s “Equestrian Monument of Niccolò da Tolentino”. Painted in 1456, the fresco of the mercenary commander and his horse is an optical illusion. The pair are depicted as a statue and the perspective scheme enables the painting to be viewed from different angles. As they walk on, some of those tourists who admire it may speculate what more the artist might have achieved had not the plague, which returned to Florence in 1457, killed him in his mid-30s.
fresco [ˈfreskəʊ] n. 湿壁画
mercenary [ˈmɜːsənəri] adj. 雇佣的；唯利是图的n. 雇佣兵；唯利是图者
optical illusion 视错觉，错视；光幻觉
错视（optical illusion）是指「通过几何图像排列、视觉成像规律等手段，制作有视觉欺骗成分的图像让眼球受骗，引起的视觉上的错觉，达到艺术或类似魔术perspective scheme 透视图
speculate /ˈspekjuleɪt/ vi. 推测；投机；思索 vt. 推断
1> to form an opinion about something without knowing all the details or facts
2> speculate (in/on something) to buy goods, property, shares, etc., hoping to make a profit when you sell them, but with the risk of losing money
2 Pandemics and culture have gone hand in hand for millennia. The earliest iteration of the disease that did for Andrea del Castagno was the Black Death, which arrived in Europe in 1347. It killed between a third and a half of the population, but it also helped clear a path to the Renaissance by bringing about great changes in the economic and social order. The Black Death did not directly lead to the Renaissance, says John Henderson, the author of a recent book on plagues, “Florence Under Siege”. But it did lead to a greater concentration of wealth among a smaller number of people. “Wages doubled. The rich became even richer,” he says. That, in turn, gave them the means to finance great art.
go hand in hand
millennia [mɪˈleniə]
n. 千年期；千周年纪念日（millennium 的复数）iteration [ˌɪtəˈreɪʃn]
n. [数] 迭代；反复；重复Andrea del Castagno 《 最后的晚餐 》的作者
Renaissance /rɪˈneɪsns/ n
bring about 引起；使掉头Siege /siːdʒ/
n. 围攻；包围；围城；不断袭击；长期努力vt. 围攻；包围in turn
反过来；转而；轮流，依次a greater concentration of wealth among a smaller number of people.
财富更集中在一小部分人的手里
3 The pandemic may even have left its mark on styles of painting. In the first decade of the 14th century Giotto had produced a cycle of unprecedentedly life-like frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua, depicting the expression of human emotions with a realism that became a hallmark of Renaissance art. But, as Leonardo da Vinci wrote, “After [Giotto], art fell back.” For a while at least, painters largely abandoned spatial rendering and lively expression for archaic, stylised forms of representation. Professor Henderson suggests the trauma of the plague may have rekindled an enthusiasm for the familiar; just as many under lockdown today have turned to comforting, well-thumbed novels and undemanding old movies.
1347年，黑死病开始在欧洲蔓延。
mark on 标上；在…上做记录——>产生了影响life-like adj. 栩栩如生的
Arena Chapel
realism [ˈriːəlɪzəm; ˈrɪəlɪzəm]
n. 现实主义；实在论；现实主义的态度和行为hallmark
n. 特点；品质证明 vt. 给…盖上品质证明印记；使具有…标志fell back 后退
abandon for 为...而放弃
spatial rendering [ˈspeɪʃl] 空间呈现
archaic [ɑːˈkeɪɪk]
adj. 古代的；陈旧的；古体的；古色古香的
stylise ['stailaiz]
v. 使……风格化；效仿……的风格（等于 stylize）render [ˈrendə(r)]
1> render somebody/something + adj. (formal) to cause somebody/something to be in a particular state or condition
2> (specialist) to cover a wall with a layer of plaster or cement
v. 致使；提供，回报；援助；提交，提出；作出（裁决）；放弃；表达；演奏；翻译；绘制；粉刷；熔化；从（动物身体）提取（蛋白质）；秘密偷渡
n. 底灰，底泥；交纳representation [ˌreprɪzenˈteɪʃn]
n. 代表；表现；表示法；陈述rekindle [ˌriːˈkɪndl]
vi. 重新点燃vt. 重新点燃；再点火well-thumbed [ˌwel ˈθʌmd] adj. 常常翻阅的
undemanding [ˌʌndɪˈmɑːndɪŋ]
adj. 要求不高的；容易的；不严格的https://www.sohu.com/a/337712115_120259260
4 Pandemics shaped creativity in other ways, too. Giovanni Boccaccio’s “The Decameron” (1353), in which ten young people swap tales while sheltering from the Black Death, is the best-known example. One of Boccaccio’s stories was borrowed by William Shakespeare for “All’s Well that Ends Well”. They have also inspired operas and works of poetry and prose, including at least one novel in Arabic, Saad Elkhadem’s “The Plague” (1989), in which the fear-inducing disease is Gamal Abdel Nasser’s dictatorship.
creativity /ˌkriːeɪˈtɪvəti/
Giovanni Boccaccio 乔万尼·薄伽丘
1313年6月16日—1375年12月21日），意大利文艺复兴运动代表，人文主义作家，诗人。其代表作有《十日谈》《菲洛柯洛》《苔塞伊达》。 1353年，完成《十日谈》。
薄伽丘与但丁、彼特拉克并称为佛罗伦萨文学“三杰”。The Decameron [di'kæmərən] n. 意大利作家薄伽丘著《十日谈》
swap [swɒp] v. 交换，调换；交易；以……作交换；代替
shelter [ˈʃeltə(r)]
n. 庇护；避难所；遮盖物vt. 保护；使掩蔽vi. 躲避，避难
sheltering from 躲避example /ɪɡˈzɑːmpl/
inspire [ɪnˈspaɪə(r)]
vt. 激发；鼓舞；启示；产生；使生灵感prose /prəʊz/ n
writing that is not poetry
n. 散文；单调adj. 散文的；平凡的；乏味的vi. 写散文；乏味地讲话vt. 把…写成散文Arabic [ˈærəbɪk]
n. 阿拉伯语adj. 阿拉伯的；阿拉伯人的；阿拉伯文化的（语言、文字、文学）萨阿德·卡德姆 瘟疫
Saad Elkhadem (1932-2003) was born in Cairo, Egypt, where he grew up and received his Bachelor of Arts degree. He earned his doctorate in Graz, Austria,Gamal Abdel Nasser 埃及总统
贾迈勒·阿卜杜-纳赛尔;
1956年6月23日—1958年2月22日 民族联盟（第2届）dictatorship [ˌdɪkˈteɪtəʃɪp]
n. 专政；独裁权；独裁者职位All’s Well that Ends Well 《皆大欢喜》
是莎士比亚创作的“四大喜剧”之一，故事场景主要发生在远离尘世的亚登森林中。大约创作于1598-1600年间。《皆大欢喜》主要剧情描述被流放的公爵的女儿罗瑟琳到森林寻父和她的爱情故事。剧名《皆大欢喜》表明剧中受迫害的好人全都得到好报，恶人受到感化，有情人双双喜结良缘。这反映了莎士比亚理想中的以善胜恶的美好境界。弗兰齐斯科·彼特拉克（意大利语：Francesco Petrarca，1304年7月20日—1374年7月19日），意大利学者、诗人，文艺复兴第一个人文主义者，被誉为“文艺复兴之父”。他以其十四行诗著称于世，为欧洲抒情诗的发展开辟了道路，后世人尊他为“诗圣”。他与但丁、薄伽丘齐名，文学史上称他们为“三颗巨星”。
《十日谈》是意大利作家乔万尼·薄伽丘创作的短篇小说集，创作于1350—1353年。该作讲述1348年，意大利佛罗伦萨瘟疫流行，10名男女在乡村一所别墅里避难。他们终日游玩欢宴，每人每天讲一个故事，共住了10天讲了百个故事，这些故事批判天主教会，嘲笑教会传授黑暗和罪恶，赞美爱情是才华和高尚情操的源泉，谴责禁欲主义，无情暴露和鞭挞封建贵族的堕落和腐败，体现了人文主义思想。《十日谈》是欧洲文学史上第一部现实主义巨著 ，世界上第一部短篇小说集；意大利近代评论家桑克提斯曾把《十日谈》与但丁的《神曲》并列，称之为“人曲”。
威廉·莎士比亚（英语：William Shakespeare，1564年4月23日—1616年4月23日），华人社会常尊称为莎翁，是英国文学史上最杰出的戏剧家，也是欧洲文艺复兴时期最重要、最伟大的作家，当时人文主义文学的集大成者，以及全世界最卓越的文学家。
yearn [jɜːn] vi. 渴望，向往；思念，想念；怀念
shun [ʃʌn] vt. 避开，避免；回避
arduous [ˈɑːdʒuəs] adj. 努力的；费力的；险峻的
exert [ɪɡˈzɜːt] vt. 运用，发挥；施以影响
5 The virus that ravaged Florence as Boccaccio’s characters spun their yarns returned again and again. The last outbreak in Europe was in 1743 in Messina, the very port through which the disease had entered the continent almost four centuries earlier. Living with the ever-present threat produced genres of pestilential art, often sponsored—lavishly so—by penitential societies or confraternities. The aim was usually to invoke the protection of the Virgin Mary or two saints regarded as particularly effective against disease: Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch.
ravage /ˈrævɪdʒ/ v = devastate
to damage something badlyspun [spʌn]
v. （使）旋转；（使）急转身；纺线；结网；驾车飞驰（spin 的过去式及过去分词）adj. 纺制的yarn [jɑːn]
n. 纱线；奇谈，故事 vt. 用纱线缠 vi. 讲故事Messina [me'si:nə] n. 墨西拿（意大利港口城市）
ever-present ['evə,prezənt] adj. 经常存在的；始终存在的
genre [ ˈʒɒnrə] ]
n. 类型；种类；体裁；样式；流派；风俗画(Genre)人名；(法)让尔adj. 风俗画的；以日常情景为主题的
pestilential [ˌpestɪˈlenʃl] adj. 引起瘟疫的；瘟疫似的；讨厌的
sponsor [ˈspɒnsə(r)] n. 赞助者；主办者；保证人 vt. 赞助；发起
lavishly [ˈlævɪʃli] adv. 丰富地；浪费地
penitential [ˌpenɪˈtenʃl] adj. 赎罪的；后悔的；悔罪的 n. 悔罪规则书；悔罪者
confraternity [ˌkɒnfrəˈtɜːnəti] n. 协会，团体；兄弟般的关系
[ confraternity作慈善或宗教的兄弟会 ]
penitential society 感化协会invoke /ɪnˈvəʊk/ vt. 调用；祈求；引起；恳求
1> invoke something (against somebody)
to mention or use a law, rule, etc. as a reason for doing something
2> to mention a person, a theory, an example, etc. to support your opinions or ideas, or as a reason for something
6 Meanwhile, doctors and clerics agreed from an early stage on the therapeutic value of music—though they sometimes differed on whether the music that lifted spirits was appropriate for protecting souls. Much devotional music was intended to be sung in the penitential processions that wound their way through the cities of Europe in times of plague. This has contemporary resonance. In the early stages of lockdown in March, Italians went on their balconies and terraces to sing and play music. In doing so, they were unwittingly imitating their 16th-century predecessors. Concerned that penitential processions encouraged contagion, the Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Borromeo, “encouraged citizens to sing from their doors and windows in order to collectively perform the public rituals while quarantined inside their own homes,” according to Remi Chiu, a musicologist, in “Plague and Music in the Renaissance” (2017).
cleric 神职人员
therapeutic [ˌθerəˈpjuːtɪk]
adj. 治疗的；治疗学的；有益于健康的 n. 治疗剂；治疗学家from an early stage 早期？
the music that lifted spirits 振奋人心的音乐
be appropriate for 适合于
appropriate [əˈprəʊpriət]
adj. 适当的；恰当的；合适的 vt. 占用，拨出devotional [dɪˈvəʊʃənl]
adj. 虔诚的，祷告的；信仰的；献身的penitential procession 忏悔的环节
wind through 弯弯曲曲地通过
contemporary resonance 时代共鸣
contemporary [kənˈtemprəri]
adj. 发生（属）于同时期的；当代的n. 同代人，同龄人；同时期的东西
resonance [ˈrezənəns] n. [力] 共振；共鸣；反响terrace [ˈterəs]
a flat, hard area, especially outside a house or restaurant, where you can sit, eat and enjoy the sun
n. 平台；梯田；阳台unwittingly [ʌnˈwɪtɪŋli]
adv. 不知不觉地；不知情地；不经意地predecessor [ˈpriːdəsesə(r)]
contagion [kənˈteɪdʒən] n. 传染病；蔓延；触染
Archbishop [ˌɑːtʃˈbɪʃəp] n. 大主教；总教主
musicologist /ˌmjuːzɪˈkɒlədʒɪst/ n. 音乐学者，音乐理论家
a person who studies the history and theory of musicpublic rituals 公共仪式
collectively [kəˈlektɪvli] adv. 集体地，共同地
7 Other forms of art have flourished during, or just after, other outbreaks of disease. The first of the three great cholera pandemics of the 19th century, which began in India in 1817, was followed by the first post-apocalyptic novel. Mary Shelley’s “The Last Man” (1826) offers an even grimmer vision of humanity’s future than Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” (2006). The Austrian artist Egon Schiele drew his mentor, Gustav Klimt, as he lay dying from the influenza pandemic in 1918 (known, unfairly, as the “Spanish flu”). Schiele himself succumbed after finishing the drawing. Virginia Woolf, who suffered heart damage from her encounter with the flu, conferred her resulting debilitation on the title character of her novel, “Mrs Dalloway” (1925).
cholera [ˈkɒlərə] n. [内科] 霍乱
post-apocalyptic 后启示录
apocalyptic [əˌpɒkəˈlɪptɪk]
adj. 描述（历史）大动乱的；预示（未来）大灾变的；像世界末日的；严重的，灾难性的；（与）《圣经·启示录》（有关）的，像《圣经·启示录》中描述的；极其壮观的，极其浮夸的；最高潮的，最具决定性的（战争等）grimmer
adj. 更严肃的；更令人沮丧的；更无吸引力的；更低落的；更阴森的；更不舒服的；更质量低劣的；更无情的；更恶劣的influenza [ˌɪnfluˈenzə]
n. [内科] 流行性感冒（简写flu）；家畜流行性感冒succumb [səˈkʌm]
vi. 屈服；死；被压垮confer [kənˈfɜː(r)]
vt. 授予；给予 vi. 协商
confer on [kənˈfɜː(r) ɒn] 授予debilitation [di,bili'teiʃən] n. 衰弱；乏力
the title character 领衔主演；片名角色
8 Elizabeth Outka, a professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, argues that traces of the psychological effects of the 1918-20 flu pandemic can also be detected in works of the inter-war period written by other survivors. She sees the shadow of the virus in T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” (1922), in which death can seem ever-present:
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
psychological [ˌsaɪkəˈlɒdʒɪkl]
adj. 心理的；心理学的；精神上的inter-war period 在两次世界大战的间隔期间
dawn [dɔːn] n. 黎明；开端vt. 破晓；出现；被领悟
flow over 溢出；满出；横流;
undo [ʌnˈduː] vt. 取消；解开；破坏；扰乱vi. 撤消
9 What do these forms of art, both modern and older, have in common? Several themes recur. One is the notion of a pandemic as a “great leveller”. It is a dubious proposition in the light of current studies showing the poor are hit the worst, but before statistical analysis, it was a common motif in the 15th-century artistic genre of the Dance of Death. It features in Edgar Allan Poe’s cholera-inspired short story, “The Masque of the Red Death” (1842), in which a prince and his court shut themselves away to escape an epidemic, but find the lethal disease has slipped in as an uninvited guest at their masked ball. In some of the early commentary around covid-19, the theme crept back in.
leveller [ˈlevələ(r)] 使人人平等的事(或局面);
dubious 英[ˈdjuːbiəs]
adj. 可疑的; 不可信的; 拿不准; 不诚实的; 不确定的; 不一定好的;in the light of 鉴于，根据
motif [məʊˈtiːf] n. 主题；动机；主旨；图形；意念
lethal [ˈliːθl]
adj. 致命的，致死的n. 致死因子creep back in 蹑手蹑脚进来；重回
10 Another recurring notion is that contagious illnesses bring out the best and worst in humanity. It is among the themes of Italy’s most celebrated 19th-century novel, Alessandro Manzoni’s “The Betrothed” (1827). Set during the plague of Milan in 1629-31, the story contrasts the heroic altruism of Fra Cristoforo, a Capuchin friar, with the cowardice and worldliness of another priest, Don Abbondio. Soon after Italy went into lockdown in March, Pope Francis told his priests: “in times of pandemic, you should not be Don Abbondios”. It was an ominous reproof. In the novel, Don Abbondio lives; Fra Cristoforo is infected and dies.
notion [ˈnəʊʃn] n. 概念；见解；打算
bring out 出版，生产；使显示；说出altruism [ˈæltruɪzəm] n. 利他；利他主义
a Capuchin friar ……教会
cowardice [ˈkaʊədɪs] n. 怯懦；胆小
worldliness [ˈwɜːrldlinəs] n. 俗气；世俗心；世故；物欲
ominous [ˈɒmɪnəs] adj. 预兆的；不吉利的
reproof [rɪˈpruːf] n. 责备；谴责
11 That gives an ironic twist to the most prevalent theme of all: the pandemic as punishment. For millennia humans have needed to rationalise catastrophe, and in doing so have turned to the notion of the wrath of God or the Gods. In Homer’s “The Iliad”, Apollo infects the Achaeans for kidnapping the comely daughters of one of his priests and turning them into sex slaves. In the Old Testament, God sends a plague to the Israelites on the puzzling grounds that King David had ordered a census. And in his account of the first great outbreak of plague in Europe, which began in 541, the Byzantine historian Procopius puts it all down to God’s will. But he noted the disease, which went on to halve the population of Europe by around 700, had a knack of letting the worst survive (possibly a dig at the emperor Justinian, who contracted the disease, but recovered).
12 Islam took the view that the victims of pandemics were martyrs who thus went straight to heaven. But millions of Christians have died of infectious diseases believing it was their own fault. Countless paintings from the 14th to the 17th centuries show an angry God presiding over indiscriminate annihilation. As Susan Sontag argued in “Illness as Metaphor” (1978), victim-blaming has continued in modern times. Cancer was once seen as the result of inhibited emotions. AIDS was stigmatised for years as the presumed penalty for uninhibited ones.
13 So what of covid-19? Some American evangelical preachers are keen to portray it as a hoax rather than a reprisal. But Ralph Drollinger, the leader of the White House bible study group, has ascribed it to God’s disgust with gays, lesbians and environmentalists. By contrast Jane Goodall, a leading environmental campaigner, has argued that “it’s our messing with nature, cutting down forests, bringing people and animals close together, hunting animals and eating them…that’s led to these viruses spreading from animals to people.” Meanwhile, the covid-inspired novels, artwork, and music have yet to materialise. When they do, they will join a long, rich tradition.
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