Pandemics, Memes, and Sovereign Communication

Abstract

The article analyzes the relation between the pandemic diffusion of the Covid-19 and the infodemics
determined by the proliferation of memes and other digital means, trying to restore a strong sense of
identity (the “sovereignist” virus). The pandemic is not simply the antithesis of globalization and neoliberal
ideology. In fact, it can be complementary to them, indicating a different path of development
between technology, consumption and lifestyle. This is akin to what William Burroughs meant when he
put forward his theory of language as a virus. The Word, Burroughs elaborated, infected the biological
organism of pre-alphabetic man, determining his expulsion from GOD (the “Garden of Delights”). The
history of human civilization is, therefore, read as a tremendous reversal of the relationship between
body and thought–in the sense that thought is read as an entity alien to the body that acts almost conspiratorially
with respect to it.
The author considers, that the blatant effect of the virus is not only to subvert the routines of expert
systems, but our perception of social reality taken for granted for too long.
Key words: pandemic, memes, civilization, word, «sovereignist» virus.