Beyond Health and Wealth: The Impact of COVID-19 and Anti-COVID-19 Measures on the Narrative Dimension of Human Life

In “Beyond Health and Wealth: The Impact of COVID-19 and Anti-COVID-19 Measures on the Narrative Dimension of Human Life,” philosopher Marcos Alonso Fernández of Complutense University of Madrid critically examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the narrative fabric of human existence. He argues that public discourse has predominantly centered on health and economic consequences, overshadowing a deeper disruption: the deterioration of the narrative context through which individuals construct meaning. Fernández highlights the loss of everyday habits—such as handshakes and friendly embraces—that once reinforced social bonds, replaced by behaviors that erode communal cohesion. Mask-wearing, while necessary for public health, further impairs interpersonal connection by obstructing facial expressions, thereby “deepening the narrative short-circuit of our lives” and “substantially diminishing the consistency of our existence” (Fernández 3).

Fernández further explains that the pandemic’s imposed stasis in circumstances and social roles has deprived life of extraordinary events or meaningful developments, leading to a narrative flattening with profound existential consequences. This narrative distension threatens the foundational human need for a purposeful life trajectory, beyond mere survival or self-preservation. According to Fernández, sustaining a sense of life’s progression toward meaning depends fundamentally on the stories we live by—stories disrupted by the pandemic’s constraints. His analysis underscores the importance of recognizing how COVID-19 has not only impacted health and economy but has also fractured the narrative structures essential for personal identity and communal cohesion during this crisis.