MEANING AMIDST PANDEMIC: EXISTENTIALISM IN EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL'S STATION ELEVEN

Pandemics are global health emergencies that dismantle the established social systems and heighten the experiences of isolation,loss,and uncertainty.Since the breakdown of COVID-19,the corpus of literature dealing with pandemics and disease outbreaks has experienced a notable uptick,particularly in post-apocalyptic pandemic fiction.Amidst societal chaos,suffering,and collapse,these literary works investigate the existential search for meaning,purpose and mortality. This research paper examines pandemic literature focusing specifically on Emily St.John Mandel's novel Station Eleven (2014),which explores the apprehension of a post-pandemic world where civilization has crumbled under the strain of the Georgia Flu.The novel is considered as a narrative of survival not merely in a physical sense,but as a philosophical and psychological endeavour.Interpreting Existential themes; such as the search for meaning, authenticity and human resilience, this study incorporates how pandemics lead people to confront their voids and establish new meanings for individuals and communities. Furthermore, this research delves into existential questions of the meaninglessness and the essence of civilization amid catastrophes.Additionally,it concerns how individuals and communities have managed traumatic experiences of previous pandemics where situations are beyond control.