(Bio)semiotic perspective on aggressions against healthcare workers in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Most violent attacks on health care workers during 2020 occurred in Latin America, Mexico included. The purpose of this paper is to ask from a semiotic point of view how such events can be explained, and to offer some proposals on how to handle fear. The hypothesis is that the human body, particularly that of healthcare workers, is a sign that is being interpreted by some as a threat, a source of disease and death; we claim that some groups of individuals react with violence both verbally and physically as a result of the infodemic and of inefficient government propaganda, together with the endosemiotic and ecosemiotic processes of each individual. To interpret the prevailing social narratives reported by the press, we analyze the body and its relationship with the surrounding world (Umwelt) through the lens of “biosemiotics” (Hoffmeyer), applying elements of the “semiotics of fear” (Lotman), complemented by the “semiotics of disaster” (Finol) and the “semiotics of death” (Han). Finally, we propose a biosemiotic ethics based on empathy, a common capacity of all individuals, and a central element to face the pandemic of fear.