Cultural memory may be expressed in many different forms. It is manifested in practices and structures as diverse as storytelling, small talk, myths, official discourses, monuments, rituals, landmarks, and arts. A distinction can be made between tangible and intangible cultural memory.
Tangible cultural memory
Tangible cultural memory refers to the ‘touchable’ or visible forms of cultural memory. Memory of past disaster can for example be materialized through mnemonic tools such as museums, archives and memorials (Ullberg, 2014). This tangible form of cultural memory of disaster can also be found in Dordrecht, a city in the southwest of the Netherlands that experienced flooding disasters in 1421 and 1953. A clear example of tangible cultural memory of the 1421 flood can be found in the form of a monument in the city centre of Dordrecht. The monument is an inscription on the wall which states in Dutch:
‘’t land en water dat men hier ziet, Waren 72 parochien , na s’ kronyks bediet; Geinundeert door ’t water krachtig, In ’t jaar 1421 waarachtig’’
The text refers to the supposedly 72 villages that have been ruined by the water.
Cultural memory of the 1953 flood is also present in the city. At several locations high water marks can be found on walls of public and private buildings, which show how high the water got in 1953. Such marks serve as a way to remember and compare the frequency and severity of floods over time. Another noticeable form of tangible cultural memory are the 40 photos on street corners throughout the city that portray the same street just after the flooding of 1953.
The Museum of the City of Volos (Greece) enhances cultural memory of historical events in the city’s history, including the earthquake disasters of the 1950s. However, it is not within the museum’s purposes to advance disaster risk awareness. EDUCEN makes an effort to bridge the gap between knowle- dge about the history and culture of the city, past disasters included, and trig- gering awareness and action towards disaster risk awareness and protection. Therefore, the project acted as mediator between the Museum of the City of Volos and the Earthquake Planning and Protection Organisation of Greece (EPPO).Moreover, EDUCEN pushed for the development of tools to advance visitors’ disaster awareness and to inspire taking measures towards disaster protection at an individual, family and school level. EDUCEN, in agreement with the Museum and EPPO, opted for the development of tools speci cally directed at teenagers who were considered as one of the most challenging group of visitors.
Another well-known form of tangible cultural memory are memorials. Memorials in the public sphere are well suited to recall the memory of historical disastrous events. They serve as a place to call to mind what happened. Frequently, they also are a location where people gather in annual commemorative events. Memorials can take a variety of forms. The Katrina National Memorial Park for example commemorates the damage done to by hurricane Katrina to the city of New Orleans in 2005. The curving lines in the design of the park suggest the traditional spiral shape of a hurricane
Marks on public buildings are also frequently seen manifestation of tangible cultural memory on disaster. High water marks carved on the walls of public or private buildings for example present a typical form of cultural memory. They serve as a way to remember and compare the frequency and severity of floods over time. High water marks are for example visible in the wall of the “Gartenhaus” situated on the bank of the Tauber River in Southern Germany (Pfister, 2010 p.9). A total of 24 marks are visible on the wall, serving as a point of comparison for each subsequent flood.
Another form of cultural memory on disaster can be found in commemorative plaques which often serve as remembrance of what happened and the lives that were lost. These commemorative plaques sometimes also contain poems. Poems present another form in which cultural memory on disasters comes to the fore. An example of an expression of cultural memory in the form of poetry can be found below. It is documented for the flood of the Drac River in Grenoble in France, 1733. The poem was published two months after the event.
The ground vanishes, the mountains descend;
Observably, brooks and rivers rise;
Grenoble and its surroundings are below a real sea;
Everything trembles, the cattle, the birds, and humans;
Grenoble, you are lost. The monster swallows you.
(Pfister, 2010 p.8)
Moreover, tangible cultural memory can be manifested in books, paintings, and photos, news clips and movies. As present-day disasters are more easily recorded through modern communication tools and social media, they are less prone to change over time (Erll, 2008). Media technologies and the circulation of media products nowadays play an important role in the transmission of cultural memory of disaster. Moreover, mass media construct narratives about disastrous events, thereby influencing how a disaster is remembered.
Museums can provide a good starting point for working with cultural memory of disaster. Education is considered one of the most important activities in learning to deal with disasters. Museums are commonly used by the public and therefore particularly well suited to teach people on disaster. Particularly well suited for cultural memory of disaster are museums dedicated to specific disastrous events, or museums with sections dedicated to such an event. Such museums enable their visitors to rediscover the experiences of previous generations in their area and can be used to encourage problem-based learning and interactive teaching. Museums’ strength is that they can be both entertaining and educational.
An example of a museum that uses cultural memory to enhance disaster risk awareness is the Dutch Watersnoodmuseum which has as a mission to ‘’remember, learn, and look ahead’’. The exposition has a strong focus on education, awareness raising, and information and tries to link the experiences from 1953 to current insights on water policies and practice (http://www.watersnoodmuseum.nl/UK/). In disaster museums, using audio, visual, virtual, and physical activities such as simulations and virtual tours are suitable to enhance cultural memory of disaster and increase current disaster risk awareness.
In the Educen project the Museum of the City of Volos was involved to bridge the gap between knowledge about the history and culture of the city, past disasters included, and triggering awareness and action towards disaster risk reduction. In its quest to do so, the project acted as mediator between the Museum of the City of Volos and Earthquake Planning and Protection Organisation of Greece (EPPO).How:
- Explore whether there are museums on previous disaster in the area
- Find out what collections on previous disaster they have
- Are they interested in including interactive elements?
- Are they open to using a serious game and/or a walking tour on cultural memory (see other tools in this section)
- Provide them with the EDUCEN information on organizing a walking tour and serious game on cultural memory
Intangible cultural memory
Intangible cultural memory refers to the less visible manifestations of cultural memory such as stories, myths, rituals and ceremonies, festive events and performing arts such as music and theatre. Telling stories is a well-known example of intangible cultural memory of disaster. There are many stories and myths that attempt to explain or come to terms with natural disasters. An example of how a narrative keeps the memories of the 1421 flood and its consequences alive can be found in the EDUCEN case study city of Dordrecht, the Netherlands.
In several Dutch museums, such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Hof van Nederland museum in Dordrecht, a story is told on a child named Beatrix de Rijke (Beatrix the lucky one) who survived the flood of 1421 in the Netherlands. The story goes that her cradle miraculously floated on the water because a cat kept the cradle in balance. When the crib washed ashore in Dordrecht, the municipality decided to take care of the costs of the orphan girl. The story of Beatrix was first published by the city historian Matthijs Balen in his 1677 Description of the City of Dordrecht. However, an image of the cradle with the cat can already be found as one of the details on a panorama of the flood by the Master of the St Elisabeth Panels, displayed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
After a disaster, communities feel the need to make sense of what happened and search for answers- supernatural, religious, or scientific- to explain the event, Cashman and Cronin (2008) note. In an attempt to come to terms with a disastrous event, existing cosmological, ancestral, or scientific frameworks may be adapted and transformed into stories that offer myth-like explanations. The narratives often contain a merger of metaphors, heroic exploits, rumours and scientific explanations and commonly emphasize the event as the responsibility of a higher power, often a god, monster, giant, or ancestor (Cashman and Cronin, 2008).
Examples from Iceland and Japan illustrate how such narratives continue to play a role in modern communities.
In Iceland, the consequences of an volcanic eruption are kept alive through narratives, especially in rural communities, where heroic stories about narrow escapes and bravery during an eruption have been passed on to the younger generation (Johannesdottir and Gisladottir, 2010 p. 414). Research by Johannesdottir and Gisladottir on people’s perceptions of Katla, a sub-glacial volcano in southern Iceland, found that several legends and myths exist. The respondents in their research repeatedly mentioned two legends, the legend of Krukkur and the legend of Katla. The legend of Krukkur is about prophet from the middle ages, Krukkur, who had predicted that if the outburst flood of Katla had reached a certain place, the eruption of Katla would cease and change its starting place and erupt at sea. In 1918, the flood reached the specific place and in 1963 and 1973 two huge eruptions occurred at sea not far from Katla. Some residents then indicated that the predictions of Krukkur had proven valid and that Katla would not erupt again. In the legend of Katla, respondents refer to Katla as a female. This has its roots in a legend from the Middle Ages about a female who threw herself into a crater after a conflict with residents in the community. Soon after, there was an eruption which was seen as revenge of Katla. An eruption of Katla is seen as ‘’the return of Katla’’. In the affected communities, ‘’strong oral traditions and storytelling serves as a constant reminder of the hazardous environment they live in’’, Johannesdottir and Gisladottir (2010 p. 418) argue.
Another example of intangible cultural memory in this form can be found in the Japanese stories on earthquakes. According to a popular myth, the tremors of the earth are caused by restless catfish (or Namazu in Japanese) underneath the earth’s surface (Bestor, 2013). Namazu is one of the yo-kai or ‘’monster’’ creatures of Japanese mythology that have been seen as causing misfortune or disasters. Namazu are also found in printed form, on posters or pamphlets. The first known Namazu prints date from shortly after the Edo (modern Tokyo) earthquake of 1855. Nowadays, Namazu prints can also be found on earthquake safety posters (Reitherman, 2013).
Besides stories, folksongs commemorating disasters have a long tradition. The songs often share certain elements like recounting of the details of the event and the suffering of victims and survivors, and serve a common function in helping to heal society (Carr, 2004). Songs also illustrate the psychological impact of disastrous events, often illustrating the relationship between the hazard and the community (Cashman and Cronin, 2008).
Another example of intangible cultural memory are rituals and events like public commemorative silence. These (often national) commemorative events have become an important part of the history and identity of past and present communities throughout the world (Eyre, 2007). ‘’Event specific public activities such as memorials provide a communal forum for the outpouring of intense emotions, public recognition of the collective loss, and the reassurance that the group, while damaged, continues (Hawdon and Ryan, 2011 p.1368). Such rituals and events are often performed on disaster anniversaries and may for example include the laying of wreaths, lighting candles, or reading the names of the diseased.
The following table provides a non-exhaustive list of different forms of tangible and intangible cultural memory of disaster.
go to index