Covid Caritasgraphia: Life Writing, Care and Moral Injury in Female Doctors’ Pandemic Memoirs from the USA, the UK and Hungary

Abstract

At the intersection of 20th-century socio-historical and literary-cultural changes affecting the genres and types of autobiography, the Covid pandemic has launched a new trend. In particular, Covid memoirs by female doctors are appearing in increasing numbers, and the presentation focuses on the thematic and stylistic characteristics of three such works as narratives of individual and collective trauma, with particular attention to the moral injuries suffered by the author-narrators while providing care in emergency situations. My hypothesis is that female doctors' Covid memoirs—regardless of national, professional, racial, or age differences—place great emphasis on the bioethical and psychological dilemmas of patient care and self-care, both at the institutional and interpersonal levels. A close reading and comparative analysis of three contemporary British, Hungarian, and American works, Rachel Clarke's Breathtaking: The UK's Human Story of Covid (2021); Patricia Imolya's Esetlapok - Kórháznovellák (2022); and Cornelia Griggs' The Sky Was Falling: A Young Surgeon's Story of Bravery, Survival, and Hope (2024), seeks possible answers to the following questions: 1) Are there significant thematic or stylistic similarities in the Covid caritasgraphies written by female doctors from different countries? 2) How do these crisis narratives reflect local differences in the healthcare systems of the US, the UK, and Hungary? 3) What global, systemic problems do these texts point to in relation to the care crisis, and how do the authors address them based on their professional perspectives and personal memories of moral injuries?