While watching the course of the COVID-19 pandemic over the world, the first “positive” in Turkey was officially announced on March 11, 2020. (Should we say “case” or “patient”? We are a little bit confused nowadays about what these adjectives characterize). From then on, the pandemic entered the agenda of Turkey.
We used to know a little less about the COVID-19 outbreak at first. It spread from China. It was fatal. There was no vaccine nor any treatment yet. The main symptoms were fever and dry cough. Although countries followed different policies from time to time in the fight against COVID-19, we can say that there was a consensus that we could be protected by paying attention to social distance and hygiene rules. However, while being informed about the global progress through the media from the very beginning, we demonstrated our local attitude as well.
We had our cologne of 80 degrees in the first place. There were many experts in every field: those who knew no experts but themselves, experts in every field, those who believed in their inventions, and scientists who were fighting the virus on one hand, and those know-it-alls on the other… We listened, tried to understand, and now we were heroes, each of us having an opinion on the subject, witnessing this great milestone in the history of civilization, and living under the shadow of this invisible trouble.
In the beginning, we heard optimistic assessments. Some believed that we could handle this with ginger and sheep’s head and foot soap. Those who thought that the virus would drown in the stomach when too much water is drunk, those who thought that the Turks had a genetic advantage, who tried to crack the “corona” virus and weaken it by sending energy and purple light… Those who drank plain spirits and killed themselves while trying to destroy the virus, who believed that the coronavirus was too beautiful to be harmful, those who thought that it was invented in a laboratory, who assumed that it was a message of aliens…
The new normal that started in June 2020 and the increase in COVID-19 cases again in the fall continue to multiply our assumptions and new experiences. The pandemic continues to affect the whole world and harm people. Our repertoire is getting richer in this process when we locked ourselves in homes quickly and switched to a new normal life that quickly. The new routine is of course intertwined with unique griefs, unforgettable traumas and irreplaceable losses, and the thousands of feelings and actions they cause. They make up the traces of the pandemic on human history. These traces transform each of us. And what is going on with us?
We want to remind you what Temaslı Sözlük (Dictionary of the Infected) is and to provide a brief history about the content of our study to those who have just met our dictionary by summarizing the whole process and refreshing our memories.
We invited you to write the civil history of the pandemic together with the call drafted for this study. You did not leave our call unanswered. You have outlined the dictionary by suggesting hundreds of items. You wrote dozens of items. This interest led our project to grow which was initially thought to be echoed in a small circle. Our project found a robust roof being hosted by um:ag. Sivil Düşün supported us in terms of accessing you and the technical infrastructure.
Now we repeat the same call more firmly:
Let’s write the daily history of the pandemic together, share the concepts and experiences brought by the pandemic to our lives.
Let’s write our own COVID-19 stories in history.
Temaslı Sözlük, which does not discriminate, does not exclude anyone and is open to anyone awaits for you if you have a word on COVID-19.
Dictionary of the Infected
temaslisozluk@gmail.com
Project Manager
Özge Mumcu Aybars on behalf of um:ag
Project Coordinators and Editors
Özgür Erbaş, Tuğba Taş, Sevgi Can Yağcı Aksel
Law Desk
Atty. Özgür Erbaş
Tech Desk
Mehmet Şafak Sarı
