South Asian COVID-19 Memoirs: Mourning and Erasure of “Grievable Lives”

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Author,
First of all, I am sorry for you losses and I send you my deepest condolences.
Then, congratulations, you wrote a very good article. It is clear, it is poignant and it is intimate but everybody can feel touched by it.
It was a pleasure to read and I am sure it wasn't easy to write but I thank you for your efforts because we need more articles like your.
I loved that you took in consideration a comic book, a form of art too often ignored. 
As you can imagine, I am extremely happy with your work but I just need to ask your to be careful with the sources. Some are missings but I am sure it won't take too much time to put them in the text. I am sorry I am not being of much help, but your work is already very good.

1) Page 2 - Lines 62-65: "Finally, Ghosh demystifies...." Needs a source. 
2) Page 2 - Please, check editorial guidelines regarding references. Lines-88-97, is it ok to repeat the year or the author should use "Ibid." or a similar formula? Please, check the entire article for similar issues, IF IT IS AN ISSUE.
3) Page 3 - Line 118: "De-/Colonizing the Subject: The Politics...". Year?
4) Page 4 - line 182: "The news media was breaking horror stories of patients...". Source?
5) Page 5 - Line 211: "in the morning in the U.S,". Be careful, "U.S." or "U.S.A.". More importantly, were you in the U.S. during the Covid? If yes, I would make it clearer because I think the distance is an important element in the Covid narrative. (See Sohini’s life in New York).
6) Page 5 - Line 224-226: "The Greeks believed that the absence...". Please, add the source. I know that it is about that but we have to put sources for everything.
7) Page 5 - Line 226: "In Antigone...". I think you need a reference for this. Please, check the reference guidelines of the journal.
8) Page 5 - Line 227: "Judith Butler...". Reference.
9) Page 5 - Lines 241-243: “it is not possible to understand social inequality without understanding how grievability is unequally distributed.” (Butler, 2022, p. 93)". Thank you! It is a perfect point for a research I am doing. Thank you!
10) Page 5 - Line 252: "Modi government...". I will make it clearer for the people who don't know who Narendra Modi is. "of the first minister Modi" or something similar.
11) Page 8  - Line 402: Shouldn't be "U.S.,"?
12) Page 9 - Line 419: "Ovid’s Metamorphoses...". Please check the reference guidelines. 
13) Page 9 - Lines 426-429: "Lahiri critiques the primacy afforded to the writer as more creative...." Reference.
14) Page 9 - Line 437: There is a dot at the beginning of the line.
15) Page 9 - Lines 439-442: "The essay begins by the admission that Lahiri has only seen...." Reference.
16) Is there a way to make the bibliography bigger? I am fine with how it is, but I am afraid that somebody else could make some comments on it. Academics love to write much longer of what they have to say.

Have a nice day!

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1,

 

Thanks for your detailed review. I have added my responses to each point below. Hope these explanations will show you how I have incorporated suggestions.

1) Page 2 - Lines 62-65: "Finally, Ghosh demystifies...." Needs a source. This is the same source/ essay by Ghosh already referenced in the paragraph. I have added an additional page number.
2) Page 2 - Please, check editorial guidelines regarding references. Lines-88-97, is it ok to repeat the year or the author should use "Ibid." or a similar formula? Please, check the entire article for similar issues, IF IT IS AN ISSUE. I read the guidelines. Ibid is allowed but it is recommended that it be used sparingly. For this reason, I have kept using year and page number instead of multiple ibids.
3) Page 3 - Line 118: "De-/Colonizing the Subject: The Politics...". Year? Added 1988 year
4) Page 4 - line 182: "The news media was breaking horror stories of patients...". Source? Added Los Angeles Times and The Guardian reports with references.
5) Page 5 - Line 211: "in the morning in the U.S,". Be careful, "U.S." or "U.S.A.". More importantly, were you in the U.S. during the Covid? If yes, I would make it clearer because I think the distance is an important element in the Covid narrative. (See Sohini’s life in New York).  I have used U.S. consistently in other essays and I think it works. I have added a statement to clarify my location in the U.S.
6) Page 5 - Line 224-226: "The Greeks believed that the absence...". Please, add the source. I know that it is about that but we have to put sources for everything. I have added a reference to Iliad Book 22,lines  300-320 where Hector begs his body to be returned to his kinsmen.
7) Page 5 - Line 226: "In Antigone...". I think you need a reference for this. Please, check the reference guidelines of the journal. I have added a reference to the specific book Antigone’s Claim that Butler discusses this.
8) Page 5 - Line 227: "Judith Butler...". Reference. I have added reference to Antigone’s Claim
9) Page 5 - Lines 241-243: “it is not possible to understand social inequality without understanding how grievability is unequally distributed.” (Butler, 2022, p. 93)". Thank you! It is a perfect point for a research I am doing. Thank you!
10) Page 5 - Line 252: "Modi government...". I will make it clearer for the people who don't know who Narendra Modi is. "of the first minister Modi" or something similar. I have added a phrase to explain Modi is the Prime Minister of India.
11) Page 8  - Line 402: Shouldn't be "U.S.,"?
12) Page 9 - Line 419: "Ovid’s Metamorphoses...". Please check the reference guidelines. I have added a reference for Ovid.
13) Page 9 - Lines 426-429: "Lahiri critiques the primacy afforded to the writer as more creative...." Reference. I have added page reference.
14) Page 9 - Line 437: There is a dot at the beginning of the line. Removed dot
15) Page 9 - Lines 439-442: "The essay begins by the admission that Lahiri has only seen...." Reference. Added page reference.
16) Is there a way to make the bibliography bigger? I am fine with how it is, but I am afraid that somebody else could make some comments on it. Academics love to write much longer of what they have to say.

I have already added 5 new sources to increase the bibliography based on comments. I think a padded bibliography can be problematic.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This is a compelling, important, and well-argued essay that merits publication. I find the your discussion of your devastating personal losses relevant and significant for this paper's topic about COVID memoirs and their importance in preserving the memory and fact of India's pandemic losses. And though this essay focuses on deaths in India (or Indian writers, as in the case of Lahiri) and lays out important cultural and historical context for that specific focus, the larger points about the role of memoir in the midst of COVID hold broader importance. Analysis and appreciation of the role that COVID memoirs, even as the pandemic continues (even if it has officially been declared over), play in public memory and memorialization is crucial, so I am gratified to see this essay written and (I hope!) published now. Also, I think Butler's analysis of grievable bodies works beautifully for this essay.

My most significant comment is about the discussion of autobiography (beginning around line 115) to set up analysis of memoir; the source, from 1988, is quite old and much has been written about memoir as a distinct genre from autobiography. The argument here about traditional autobiography could either be replaced by or augmented by discussion of memoir as a form that decenters the heroic "I" and foregrounds memory over narrative cohesion, allowing for nonlinear structure, reflection, and uncertainty. To further delve into existing structures, you might also want to look at illness narrative/illness memoir forms, as there are overlapping & multi-faceted fields of study (illness narratives, disability studies, narrative medicine, rhetoric of health and medicine) that feel relevant to this paper. I don't think you need to make major adjustments to accommodate this existing scholarship, but it may prove helpful and is worth acknowledging.

The point on page 3 (lines 145-146, and more) about these memoirs being written by daughters is important and I'd love to see it elaborated on. For instance, later, you mention that last rites were not able to be performed in 2020 and 2021. Expanding on (or being more specific about) the  hands-on roles & responsibilities of daughters in a parent's funeral within Hinudism is important -- from washing the body to dressing it and more--and the loss during COVID when those daughterly functions were not able to be performed. I would imagine that adds to or compounds the sense of loss and isolation.

Lines 103-108 & 152-153, important points here about the important role that memoir plays. Might memoir also serve as a record or archive in its own right, in addition to offering a way of remembering, in light of the inaccurate case counts?

Line 251, please define/describe the Farmers Protests 

Line 321-323, I suggest cutting the word "misinformation" here & perhaps replacing it with "lack of information," as there is not yet (in 2023) definitive information about the infectious nature of the bodies of the COVID deceased. The bodies of those deceased with COVID are treated by public health offices/the funeral industry as carrying infectious or communicable diseases, similar to bodies of those who were HIV-positive or had malaria, etc. I understand the point about fear and shunning, but it feels important not to hinge that on a word implying that handling the bodies of the COVID-deceased doesn't carry risk. 

And one final thought (to take or leave, as you wish): memoir usually entails an act of reflection, of looking back, that is granted to writers when they have had time to process and step back from an event. It's significant that the writers analyzed here do not have the luxury of time in getting these pieces into the world (which, again, is related to your point about the importance of memoir in this moment). I wonder if the urgency compresses that reflective act, or maybe even eliminates it altogether. Perhaps it accounts for the fragmented nature, because there has been no time to form/conceptualize a cohesive narrative. 

 

 

 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2,

 

Dear Reviewer,

Thanks for your careful reading and insightful suggestions that I have incorporated as stated below.

 

 

My most significant comment is about the discussion of autobiography (beginning around line 115) to set up analysis of memoir; the source, from 1988, is quite old and much has been written about memoir as a distinct genre from autobiography. The argument here about traditional autobiography could either be replaced by or augmented by discussion of memoir as a form that decenters the heroic "I" and foregrounds memory over narrative cohesion, allowing for nonlinear structure, reflection, and uncertainty. To further delve into existing structures, you might also want to look at illness narrative/illness memoir forms, as there are overlapping & multi-faceted fields of study (illness narratives, disability studies, narrative medicine, rhetoric of health and medicine) that feel relevant to this paper. I don't think you need to make major adjustments to accommodate this existing scholarship, but it may prove helpful and is worth acknowledging.

 

Thanks for this suggestion. I have clarified the definition of memoir as well as connected these memoirs to illness narratives. I argue that these memoirs reject the triumphalist framing of most mainstream illness narratives. Pg 3-4 Lines 132-166 is a whole new addition differentiating memoirs and placing these memoirs in conjunction with illness narratives.

The point on page 3 (lines 145-146, and more) about these memoirs being written by daughters is important and I'd love to see it elaborated on. For instance, later, you mention that last rites were not able to be performed in 2020 and 2021. Expanding on (or being more specific about) the  hands-on roles & responsibilities of daughters in a parent's funeral within Hinudism is important -- from washing the body to dressing it and more--and the loss during COVID when those daughterly functions were not able to be performed. I would imagine that adds to or compounds the sense of loss and isolation.

I have added a few lines 258-268 on rituals of care for the dead body in preparation for cremation.

Lines 103-108 & 152-153, important points here about the important role that memoir plays. Might memoir also serve as a record or archive in its own right, in addition to offering a way of remembering, in light of the inaccurate case counts?

I have added a new line 203-205 to suggest that memoirs can offer a counter-narrative to official statistics.

Line 251, please define/describe the Farmers Protests 

I have added background info on the Farmers Protests.

Line 321-323, I suggest cutting the word "misinformation" here & perhaps replacing it with "lack of information," as there is not yet (in 2023) definitive information about the infectious nature of the bodies of the COVID deceased. The bodies of those deceased with COVID are treated by public health offices/the funeral industry as carrying infectious or communicable diseases, similar to bodies of those who were HIV-positive or had malaria, etc. I understand the point about fear and shunning, but it feels important not to hinge that on a word implying that handling the bodies of the COVID-deceased doesn't carry risk. 

I have changed the phrase to lack of accurate information.

And one final thought (to take or leave, as you wish): memoir usually entails an act of reflection, of looking back, that is granted to writers when they have had time to process and step back from an event. It's significant that the writers analyzed here do not have the luxury of time in getting these pieces into the world (which, again, is related to your point about the importance of memoir in this moment). I wonder if the urgency compresses that reflective act, or maybe even eliminates it altogether. Perhaps it accounts for the fragmented nature, because there has been no time to form/conceptualize a cohesive narrative.

I have added a few lines at the end to develop this idea of the fragmentary nature of these narratives which together offer the beginnings of an archive of Covid stories.

 

 

 

 

Submission Date

20 June 2023

Date of this review

29 Jun 2023 00:35:56

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf