The Omani Society for Writers and Literates has decided to publish a book documenting the vision of the Omani writers on the Corona pandemic, each in its specialization. The society will publish the book within the books it is working on publishing for the writers for the year 2021AD. This comes within the framework of its tasks in monitoring cultural transformations, especially intellectual and literary in the Sultanate, and considering that the Corona pandemic will be the cause of many transformations, whether in the political, economic, religious, social, psychological or cognitive aspects, and the like.
The book was divided into 15 themes, with each one having two elements: reality and its manifestations, and the future and its horizons. The first theme, which is the health, discussed the development of the epidemic situation in the Sultanate, how it was dealt with, and the evaluation of the health institution in its treatment, in addition to the prospects for health development expected after the epidemic receded.
The economic theme includes the economic repercussions that accompanied the spread of the Corona virus, and how the Sultanate faced that, especially in light of the sharp drop in oil prices, as well as the proposed solutions for a safe economic situation to avoid future disasters, health or natural or other.
The social axis monitors the most important measures taken in what is known as physical distance, how Omanis received them, and what are the most important social transformations brought about by the epidemic in Omani society, in addition to exploring future social patterns after Corona in the Omani and global society.
As for the civil topic, it will discuss questions about the contribution of civil society institutions to besieging Corona, and whether these institutions will witness an improvement in its structure in the future.
The educational theme will be among the themes of the book, considering that education was one of the first institutions to face the shock of Corona, as the study was suspended in its various institutions. This topic will raise questions about how education took place during the pandemic, and what are the future education methods after Corona, whether in the normal situation or during disasters?
The themes of the book will also address the administrative structure of the state. The religious axis of the book expresses the analysis of religious discourse in the Sultanate during Corona, monitors the most important opinions and fatwas in that, and foresees the path of religious discourse after the pandemic.
The narrative theme monitors the most important acts that were exposed to the pandemic, and what its value is because it constitutes a precedent in the monitoring, and whether we will witness Omani fictional and dramatic works in this aspect, and how much creativity disaster can add to the narration in all its forms.
The cinema axis questions about cinema and whether it is present to monitor the pandemic in its time in the Sultanate, and how much creativity in this monitoring, and what transformations will be attached to cinema after Corona and the concepts of sanitary isolation and social distancing.
As for the axis of poetry, it will ask questions such as whether the Omani poets kept pace with the shock of Corona, and whether they presented creative poetry, and whether their poetry will perpetuate the events of the pandemic and the psychological state experienced by the Omanis. Will poetry remain a literary tool to keep pace with all world events, or is it sufficient for general human feelings in the natural situation?
On the legal front, the law was present in the face of the Corona pandemic. Therefore, this theme raises questions about the attendance of the legal position, and whether the Omani legislation kept pace with the event. It also raises questions about the forms and paths for future post-epidemic legal adjustment.
Given that the media was present in covering the events of Corona reflected on the Sultanate, the media theme will ask questions about the role played by the Omani media, and what impact it has from the epidemic, in addition to the prospects for the development of the media system in all its traditional and modern forms after the Corona epidemic.
Since the pandemic of the Corona virus (Covid-19) was a global shock, and it must have affected people psychologically, the book will raise questions about the impact of the pandemic on the Omanis through the psychological axis. It will explore whether there have already been any psychological treatments for this shock, and whether we will find future research centres in psychology to keep pace with the transformations of society and the state in the Sultanate?
The philosophical theme begins with criticizing the absence of the philosophical dimension from the pandemic, and it is directed to Arab thought in general. This theme wonders if this applies to the intellectual situation in the Sultanate, and whether there were philosophical articles dealing with this aspect, in addition to whether there is any hope for a philosophical revival after the Corona pandemic.
Finally, the pandemic of the Corona virus revealed a global delay in research, especially those concerned with the vital aspects of humankind in times of emergency. Therefore, the theme of scientific research raises questions about how the Sultanate deals with the idea of the world participating in scientific research, and whether it contributed to that. Will the Sultanate activate the field of scientific research with more force? Will you establish centres for specialized scientific research? What is the extent of the possibility of making Omani cadres as international references in this field?