From a Biological Entity to a Social Monster. A Semiotic Construction of the Coronavirus During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

During the first half of 2020, the novel coronavirus was “brought to life” by means of images, descriptions, narratives and other modes of representation developed by international organizations, governments and media outlets, amongst other social actors, in order to help the population make sense of it and render its threat more tangible. Under the assumption that social reality is constructed by means of multiple processes of semiotic nature that imply the production, distribution and consumption of meaning, this article discusses from a semiotic perspective the representations of the coronavirus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its aim is analyze how the virus has been brought to life, mainly in the form of an evil enemy that threatens humanity and that needs to be fought. After a general discussion of how the discursive and imaginary construction of an enemy involves a series of mechanisms of semiotic nature that, besides representing it, shape its construction, the article studies three levels of representation of the coronavirus: the iconic, the axiological and the narrative.