Chaos of Corona and Urdu Novel

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic deeply influenced Urdu fiction, particularly the Urdu novel, by introducing new themes of fear, isolation, uncertainty, and social transformation. The pandemic, caused by COVID-19, not only disrupted daily life but also reshaped literary imagination. Urdu novelists responded by portraying lockdowns, hospital scenes, migrant crises, economic instability, and psychological trauma as central narrative elements. In these novels, the home-once a symbol of comfort-often becomes a space of confinement, while hospitals emerge as intense sites of struggle between life and death. Writers explore how social distancing creates emotional distance, how misinformation spreads panic, and how technology becomes the primary medium of connection. Themes of loneliness, existential anxiety, and the fragility of human relationships are prominently depicted. The pandemic becomes a metaphor for moral, social, and spiritual crises. Overall, the pandemic expanded the thematic scope of the Urdu novel and opened new directions for contemporary literary expression. This article explores how Urdu novels portray different aspects of Covid-19.