O RESTO QUE A PANDEMIA DESVELA

Abstract

The present study aims to reflect on the relevance and applicability of Freudian contributions to the periods of war and death for the current health crisis resulting from the new coronavirus in the Brazilian context. To this end, relations were established between the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic observed in the different uses that people make of the Internet and Freud’s elaborations on the reactions of civilians to the losses in the First World War present in his texts "Reflections for times of war and death" (1915) and "On transitoriness" (1915/1916). In this sense, we observe two contrary and frequent movements of the subjects before the health crisis, on the one hand we find those who neglect the threat seeking to maintain the illusion of an immortality and what Freud (1915, p. 117) called "(...) almighty and autocratic ego" while others feel disillusioned and overwhelmed by the horror of the deaths. We also point out that the Brazilian economic and political crisis presents itself as an aggravating factor in facing the health crisis imposed by Covid-19, in line with Freud’s elaborations (1915). Finally, in addition to extreme reactions, we also note particular actions that consent to losses but seek a rescue of human dignity, as is the case of support networks created in the virtual environment to maintain the livelihood of the less favored, education, leisure and culture, as well as the creation of the profile on the social network Instagram "@inumeraveismemorial" which is dedicated to the history of each of the coronavirus victims in Brazil. Thus, highlighting the possibilities of a work of mourning and valuing life, which try to include the existence of death even though it is a reality that cannot be said in the first person, as psychoanalysis points out.