Meaning of life and death during COVID-19 pandemic: A cultural and religious narratives

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Meaning of life and death during COVID-19 pandemic: A cultural and religious narratives
 
Creator Buqa, Wonke
 
Subject History COVID-19 pandemic; culture; religion; narratives; the meaning of life; death; qualitative interviews; oral history.
Description The sudden arrival of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in South Africa drastically changed the normal way of life in all sectors. It compelled everyone to look at the meaning of life and death differently and more painfully than before. This article investigates the cultural theories and religious narratives on the meaning of life and death, associated with the pervasiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus affected individuals, families and communities, some directly or indirectly, no one is or was immune to the virus. The article argues that due to COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, culture, religious practices and protocols have been upended. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged inkcubeko nenkolo yabantu [culture, people’s religious belief systems and practices]. This article consists of in-depth qualitative interviews with four religious leaders from the Christian and Muslim faiths. Because of the interviews with persons, oral historians conduct open-ended interviews, as a form of social inquiry. Oral history narratives thus connect the individual and the social, drawing on cultural and religious expressions to tell one’s story.Contribution: The scholarly contribution of this article adds value and significance to oral history research, as a way of collecting and interpreting human memories and experiences on the meaning of life and death during the COVID-19 crisis. It discusses the dreadfulness of the COVID-19 scourge concerning religious and cultural effects, social sciences and people’s narrative reflections.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor none
Date 2024-03-05
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Qualitative approach
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v80i1.9258
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 80, No 1 (2024); 9 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/9258/26553 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/9258/26554 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/9258/26555 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/9258/26556
 
Coverage — — 30 to 65; male, different ethnicity
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Wonke Buqa https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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