Narratives and the psychological functions of narration in French lockdown diaries

The COVID-19 pandemic was an 'extraordinary' situation that raised many ethical and political questions about the role of care in society, as well as the exercise of democracy in the context of major restrictions on freedoms. During the first lockdown in France, many people shared their daily experiences in 'lockdown diaries'. This can be explained by the psychological functions of narration which, among other things, allow people to break out of isolation by sharing their feelings and daily life. For this reason, we analysed pandemic-related narratives published online in France throughout the initial lockdown, viewing them as a way of accessing people's lived experiences during this period. We classified three categories of diaries according to the narrator's perspective: those of the general public, those of healthcare professionals and patients, and those of intellectuals. The main objectives of the study were: (1) To understand the plurality of pandemic experiences; (2) To highlight the different functions of narration mobilised by the three types of narrators; and (3) To understand how they adressed the ethical and political questions raised by the crisis. Through a qualitative analysis of 292 entries from 11 'logbooks', this research uncovered themes common to all narrators, notably the central role of solidarity in crisis response. Additionally, it identified distinct thematic patterns across narrator categories-disruptions to daily life for the general public, ethical dilemmas in care for healthcare professionals and political critiques among intellectuals. The study showed that all narrators used the sharing and memorisation functions of narration, and that they mobilised the cathartic, political and imaginative functions of narration in different ways. Finally, the results suggested that pandemic narratives could contribute to democratic debate and the formulation of collective crisis responses in the future.