“Journal: a diary of pandemic times”

On 22 March 2020, the German Federal and Regional governments decided upon the first ‘contact restrictions’ – the new reality of a pandemic encroaches upon our lives, our daily routines, our mental health, and the state of our society and politics. On 23 March, Caroline Emcke, bestselling author and peace prize recipient, begins her ‘journal’. She notes down her nightmares and personal farewells as well as global constellations, such as Europe’s nationalist reflexes and the virus’ allure for authoritarians. Carolin Emcke’s ‘Journal’ (published by S. Fischer) is both a subjective, philosophical diary and an unsparing chronicle of a state of emergency whose end no one can predict.

The ‘journal’ can be read as historiography of the moment, as a literary document of contemporary history.

In conversation with sociologist and playwright Martin Valdés-Stauber, Carolin Emcke looks back on the past year’s personal and political experiences and upheavals. How have our communities and public space changed? What sort of impact has the experience of collective vulnerability had on us? Will we return all too quickly to a normality that has been characterized as problematic?