Returning to Literary Sources: Boccaccio's Decameron

Last month when swine flu jumped the species barrier and subsequently spread across the world, I was reminded of a literary work I've been meaning to take on for years: Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron. Its heft has been sitting on my shelf, taking up the width of 2-3 regular books, its black spine with tiny Penguin logo unobtrusively blending in amongst the more garish titles.

Having become interested in pandemic and epidemiology after reading There Is No Me Without You (about the tragic spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa), I've been following the evolution and spread of the H1N1 fairly closely. While not hysterical about it by any means, I am concerned about the possibility of major pandemic in the near future. And, as I always do in times of doubt and uncertainty, I turn to research and reading to try to gain a sense of understanding and precedent.

So, what was the experience in the 1300's, when the Black Death was raging across the known world, killing at least 1/3rd of Europe's population? Enter The Decameron, the premise of which revolves around 10 citizens of Florence fleeing the plague-infested city and holing up in the countryside. I have been trying to read gathered research from this time as well, but it is difficult to draw conclusions now that there is debate over whether bubonic plague was indeed the Black Death. However, I do see some similarities in the attempts to prevent the spread--quarantine, of course, and the instruction to think pleasant thoughts (ie, today's equivalent of stress making one more susceptible to disease). All these attempts, despite the best minds of the day believing the Black Death to be caused by vapors ("miasma") emanating from ill-fated planetary allignment.

In the event of a serious pandemic in our lifetimes, I get a glimpse of the hysteria we may be in store for by looking back to the Black Death. Certainly, I would hope it would not involve burning the houses of Jewish folks down, but think of deploying the military, curfews, quarantines, maybe even martial law? Deciding (as was talked about a couple years ago by a special task force) not to treat certain people--those over a certain age, those with dementia, trauma victims, and those with lung disease, heart failure, or "poorly-controlled diabetes?" Sounds pretty subjective to me--I can see mob attacks over who gets access to treatment. All that is just on the government level. To be honest, real racism could indeed break out if a particular group would be blamed for the strain's origins. Maybe burning homes of certain groups is not so far-fetched after all...

Anyway, the task of reading The Decameron is daunting, which is why I have not attempted it until now. A 22-page table of contents, a preface which boasts the phrase "occaisional emendations of a distinctly minor complexion" in the very first sentence, bibliographies, author's introduction, maps, 67 pgs of notes, 2 indeces, and the icing on the cake: a 113-pg translator's introduction. I figure the translator earned it, as he states translating The Decameron spanned 2 marriages and "half a lifetime." And I am one of those people who HAS to read introductions, footnotes, and notes. I am on pg xxxi...which is to say, not even page "1."