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. 2022 Sep 2:1-24.
doi: 10.1007/s11097-022-09847-1. Online ahead of print.

Lost in pandemic time: a phenomenological analysis of temporal disorientation during the Covid-19 crisis

Pablo Fernandez Velasco  1 , Bastien Perroy  2 , Umer Gurchani  2 , Roberto Casati  2
Affiliations

Lost in pandemic time: a phenomenological analysis of temporal disorientation during the Covid-19 crisis

Pablo Fernandez Velasco et al. Phenomenol Cogn Sci. .

Abstract

People have experienced many forms of temporal disorientation during the Covid-19 crisis. For this study, we collected a rich corpus of reports on the multifaceted experiences of disorientation during the pandemic. In this paper, we study the resulting corpus using a descriptive approach. We identify six emerging themes: temporal rift; temporal vertigo; impoverished time; tunnel vision; spatial and social scaffolding of time; suspended time. We offer a phenomenological analysis of each of the themes. Based on the phenomenological analysis, we draw a key distinction between episodic and existential forms of temporal disorientation, and we argue that the Covid-19 crisis is best conceptualised as a period of suspended time.

Keywords: Covid-19; Pandemic; Phenomenology; Temporal disruption; Time experience.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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