Necessity, Norm and Missing Knowledge

This study examines modal verbs in German press coverage of COVID-19 during the first phase of the pandemic. The data basis is an 18-million-word corpus of newspaper articles. For analysis, a sample is drawn from the total number of modal verbs in the corpus and these are categorised according to their discourse function. The corresponding annotated data are analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. For this purpose, the study draws back to Kratzer’s concept of conversational backgrounds. It turns out that in addition to normative speech backgrounds, goal formulations can be found above all. Normative backgrounds are evoked, on the one hand, to address official rules and their effects and, on the other hand in appeals and demands, to refer to social norms that are assumed as common ground. The fact that teleological backgrounds play a relatively large role indicates that the normalisation perspective is of great importance as a regulative in the crisis discourse. More positive than negative determining factors are indicated and uncertainty markings occur comparatively rarely. This points to successful crisis communication in this discourse phase.

Making sense of the COVID-19 pandemic from the Bible – Some perspectives

In this article, a brief survey of some of the ways in which biblical scholars try to make sense of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is offered. The views of the following scholars are discussed: Walter Brueggemann, Ying Zhang, John Goldingay and Kathleen Scott Goldingay, N.T. Wright, Philemon M. Chamburuka and Ishanesu S. Gusha, and Peter Lampe. This is followed by the reflections of a biblical scholar and a systematic theologian. From the perspective of a biblical scholar, the following issues are raised: the richness of biblical traditions, the influence of social location on the interpretation of the pandemic in the light of the Bible, the importance of the emphasis on lament, the reluctance to interpret the pandemic as a punishment from God, the importance of the interpreter’s view of God and the emphasis on the way in which the ‘new normal’ should be approached. From the perspective of a systematic theologian the following issues are discussed: The nature of doing theology, the role of the symbol of the Divine, performativity of sense-making, the Trinitarian confession, an emerging new self and the importance of an ethic of responsibility.Contribution: The article is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasises the critical importance of engaging the Christian scripture. The role accorded to hermeneutics and to an explicit interdisciplinary conversation makes a particular contribution to the emerging crisis discourse.

Directions of Solidarization in the Crisis Discourse of Belarusian Regional Press During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The paper discusses the directions of solidarity formation, as well as the linguistic means of its explication in the press during the coronavirus pandemic crisis. This work is based on the articles of Belarusian regional newspapers published in March–June 2020. The current situation is a global crisis that has a significant impact on the lives of people around the world; therefore its coverage in the media is extremely important. It was determined here that the main strategies for presenting the situation in the media include orientation (formulation and clarification of the crisis), neutralization (easing the tension in the society) and integration (promoting solidarity among the population during the crisis). The analysis of Belarusian regional press revealed four vectors of solidarization: social support of vulnerable categories of people (senior citizens, the disabled) by public service institutions, various organizations and volunteers; people’s personal and collective responsibility for their own health and safety of others, demonstration of responsible behaviour; institutional, mainly financial, assistance in combating the epidemic, including support to other countries; common values and the consolidation of efforts to achieve socially significant goals. Key lexemes were identified that accentuate these ideas in the publications of the regional press. The author comes to the conclusion that in a crisis situation mass media strengthens its role as a means of maintaining balance in the society and mobilizing the population in order to accomplish important tasks.

Torah against the Virus, Rabbis against the Government: Ultra-Orthodoxy Facing the Pandemic

The paper discusses a number of the most remarkable responses to the COVID‑19 pandemic and to the social isolation measures coming from several, mostly ultra‑Orthodox, Jewish communities in Israel, the United States, and Russia. It examines major elements of the crisis discourse, i.e., the hermeneutics of the causes and meanings of the pandemic; the affirmation of group borders and hierarchies as a result of the search for culprits; the relations between the religious community and the state; as well as the possible transformations of social behavior and ritual practices resulting from the crisis.