The current health situation has been described as chaotic and devastating. Humanity's trust in the future and in its human capacity to overcome a disaster of such magnitude is even starting to wither away. If science still lacks a response to the pandemic, can the humanities offer something to cope with this situation? The world can adopt a historical perspective and realize that this is not the first time a global pandemic has struck. Issues including illness, suffering, endurance, resilience, human survival, etc. have been dealt with by literature, philosophy, psychology, and sociology throughout the ages and should be explored once again in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Handbook of Research on Historical Pandemic Analysis and the Social Implications of COVID-19 explores the issue of disease from a variety of philosophical, legal, historical, and social perspectives to offer both comprehension and consolation to the human psyche. This group of scholars within the fields of education, psychology, linguistics, history, and philosophy provides a comprehensive view of the humanities as it relates to the pandemic within the frame of human reaction to pain and calamity. This book also looks at the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on society in a multidisciplinary capacity that examines its effects in education, government, business, and more. Covering topics such as public health legislation, sociology, impacts on women, and population genetics, this book is essential for sociologists, psychologists, communications experts, historians, researchers, students, and academicians.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had to cope with isolation due to lockdown policies that forced them to engage in fewer social activities. People were confined to the small space of their dwellings and felt constrained and socially isolated and deprived of meaningful social interaction and affection, which caused stress and anxiety. Several initiatives were put in place to help diminish the effects of isolation, such as those involving literature either through writing or reading. Managing Pandemic Isolation With Literature as Therapy explains the positive medical and psychological effects of literature and writing during a pandemic at a time when isolation prevented people from engaging with others socially. Covering topics such as clinical psychology, brain neurology, and stress, this reference work is ideal for psychologists, medical professionals, policymakers, government officials, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Recent political developments in Spain regarding Catalonia have prompted scholars from several disciplines to research the singularity of this region and of the territories of the old Crown of Aragon. Against the backdrop of the pro-independence movement, those in favor and against have insisted on the particularity or commonality of Catalonia and the Paisos Catalans (Catalan-speaking areas) within the Spanish State. From the Catalan point of view, their singularity is not sufficiently recognized, and respect for their institutions and their autonomy is at stake to the point that many prefer to secede from Spain. Singularity or its absence play a relevant role in the construction of identity, which seems to be key in understanding many Catalans' attitudes towards the central government, a fluid concept that allows for a variety of interpretations. History of Catalonia and Its Implications for Contemporary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict is a critical reference book that centers around the topic of Catalan cultural and linguistic identity. With input from renowned scholars in several fields, the chapters explore the issue of Catalan identity from a variety of perspectives. While highlighting the legal and historical component to identity and also sociolinguistics and political linguistics, this book is ideally intended for scholars in the fields of Hispanic studies, history, linguistics, political science, and literary studies as well as practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in contemporary politics and the political developments in Spain regarding Catalonia.

This volume gathers a superbcollection of articles on current research topicsfocused on the Catalan language andculture of the Catalan-speaking lands. The twenty contributions offer an overview of the current state of Catalan Studies and deal with medieval, early modern and contemporary Catalan literature, including the intersection of literature and painting or literature and film. There are also contributions on Linguistics, particularly inthe fields of lexicography and phraseology or neology as applied to the Catalan language. Finally, the volume includes some proposals for the improvement and promotion of the teaching of Catalan language and culture.

A collection of essays by leading scholars that examine the two facets of Juan de Mena's life as lawyer and poet. Este libro reúne un número significativo de artículos que suponen una aportación ciertamente notable a la bibliografía disponible hasta la fecha. Juan de Mena: de letrado a poeta recoge dieciséis trabajos en los que se estudifigura y su obra desde perspectivas distintas pero complementarias que abren nuevas líneas de investigación o bien enriquecen otras ya existentes. El libro está estructurado en tres grandes bloques temáticos: el primero de ellos se dedica al contexto histórico de Juan de Mena. El segundo gira en torno a la configuración del poeta, atendiendo a la conciencia autorial de Mena y a los recursos literarios que emplea. El tercero y último está dedicado a latransformación del 'famosíssimo poeta Juan de Mena' en un clásico. Cristina Moya García es profesora en la Universidad de Córdoba. This book contains several studies reviewing the two facets of Juan de Mena's life as lawyer and poet. These contributions open up new lines of research on this important early-fifteenth-century Castilian writer and enrich some existing ones, studying Juan de Mena from different perspectives. The book is structured into three thematic blocks: The first is devoted to the historical context of Juan de Mena. The second section focuses on the configuration of the poet. The third and final part is dedicated to the transformation of"famosíssimo poeta Juan de Mena" into a classic author. Cristina Moya García is a professor at the Universidad de Córdoba. Contributors: Federica Accorsi, Carlos Alvar, Linde M. Brocato, Francisco de Paula Cañas Gálvez, Daniela Capra, Juan Luis Carriazo Rubio, Antonio Cortijo Ocaña, Sila Gómez Álvarez, Ángel Gómez Moreno, Daniel Hartnett, Julián Jiménez Heffernan, Maxim Kerkhof, Françoise Maurizi, Cristina Moyérez, Pedro Ruiz Pérez, Julian Weiss

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had to cope with isolation due to lockdown policies that forced them to engage in fewer social activities. People were confined to the small space of their dwellings and felt constrained and socially isolated and deprived of meaningful social interaction and affection, which caused stress and anxiety. Several initiatives were put in place to help diminish the effects of isolation, such as those involving literature either through writing or reading. Managing Pandemic Isolation With Literature as Therapy explains the positive medical and psychological effects of literature and writing during a pandemic at a time when isolation prevented people from engaging with others socially. Covering topics such as clinical psychology, brain neurology, and stress, this reference work is ideal for psychologists, medical professionals, policymakers, government officials, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Recent political developments in Spain regarding Catalonia have prompted scholars from several disciplines to research the singularity of this region and of the territories of the old Crown of Aragon. Against the backdrop of the pro-independence movement, those in favor and against have insisted on the particularity or commonality of Catalonia and the Paisos Catalans (Catalan-speaking areas) within the Spanish State. From the Catalan point of view, their singularity is not sufficiently recognized, and respect for their institutions and their autonomy is at stake to the point that many prefer to secede from Spain. Singularity or its absence play a relevant role in the construction of identity, which seems to be key in understanding many Catalans' attitudes towards the central government, a fluid concept that allows for a variety of interpretations. History of Catalonia and Its Implications for Contemporary Nationalism and Cultural Conflict is a critical reference book that centers around the topic of Catalan cultural and linguistic identity. With input from renowned scholars in several fields, the chapters explore the issue of Catalan identity from a variety of perspectives. While highlighting the legal and historical component to identity and also sociolinguistics and political linguistics, this book is ideally intended for scholars in the fields of Hispanic studies, history, linguistics, political science, and literary studies as well as practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in contemporary politics and the political developments in Spain regarding Catalonia.

The career of Arthur L-F. Askins is celebreated in a panorama of current scholarship on the Iberian peninsula during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This volume is dedicated to Professor Arthur L-F. Askins, whose scholarship on Spanish and Portuguese literatures of the Medieval and Renaissance periods is esteemed by colleagues around the world. Many North American and European scholars have contributed with essays of an exceptionally high scholarly quality, in English, Spanish and Portuguese, to this wide-ranging tribute, dealing with Spanish and Portuguese literary culture from the end of the fourteenth to the late sixteenth century. Some tackle problems concerning manuscripts, texts, and books; other essays are literary, theoretical, and interpretive in nature; topics range from medieval and Renaissance epic and love poetry to spiritual, travel and chivalric literature, as well as balladry and pliegos sueltos. CONTRIBUTORS: Gemma Avenoza, Nieves Baranda, Vicenc Beltran, Alberto Blecua, Pedro M. Catedra, Manuel da Costa Fontes, Alan Deyermond, Aida Fernanda Dias, Dru Dougherty, Thomas F. Earle, Charles B. Faulhaber, Maria del Mar Fernandez Vega, Helder Godinho, Angel Gomez Moreno, Thomas R. Hart, Ana Hatherly, David Hook, Victor Infantes, Paul Lewis-Smith, Beatriz Mariscal Hay, Aires A. Nascimento, Joao David Pinto-Correia, Dorothy Sherman Severin, Harvey L. Sharrer. Martha E. Schaffer is Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of San Francisco; Antonio CortijoOcana is Professor of Spanish at the University of California.