32.3 - Historical Disaster Research
Special Issue
- Schenk, Gerrit Jasper: Historical disaster research: state of research, concepts, methods and case studies.
- Flaig, Egon: Eine Katastrophe definieren: Versuch einer Skizze.
- Meier, Mischa: Zur Terminologie der (Natur-)Katastrophe in der griechischen Historiographie: einige einleitende Anmerkungen.
- Conti, Stefano: Lateinische Termini für Erdbeben in literarischen und epigraphischen Quellen der römischen Zeit.
- Akasoy, Anna: The man-made disaster: fire in cities in the medieval Middle East.
- Rohr, Christian: Writing a catastrophe: describing and constructing disaster perception in narrative sources from the Late Middle Ages.
- Bankoff, Greg: Comparing vulnerabilities: toward charting an historical trajectory of disasters.
- Rudolf, Florence: Von einer Krisen- zur Risikosoziologie in Frankreich: ein Beitrag zur Katastrophenforschung.
- Mauelshagen, Franz: Flood disasters and political culture at the German North Sea coast: a long-term historical perspective.
- Allemeyer, Marie Luisa: Profane hazard or divine judgement?: coping with urban fire in the 17th century.
- Poliwoda, Guido: Learning from disasters: Saxony fights the floods of the river Elbe 1784-1845.
- Summermatter, Stephanie: Die instrumentalisierte Katastrophe: die Schweizer Wasserbaupolitik vor und nach den Überschwemmungen von 1868.
- Dix, Andreas; Röhrs, Matthias: Vergangenheit versus Gegenwart?: Anmerkungen zu Potentialen, Risiken und Nebenwirkungen einer Kombination historischer und aktueller Ansätze der Naturgefahrenforschung.
Mixed Issue
HSR Vol. 32 (2007) No. 3: Special Issue: Historical Disaster Research
Gerrit Jasper Schenk & Jens Ivo Engels (Eds.): Historical Disaster Research. Concepts, Methods and Case Studies
Almost every week the media report on disasters somewhere in the world or on disasters on a global scale, such as climate change. They discuss the frequency and gravity of disasters or unprecedented events like nuclear plant explosions and global warming. Yet while humanity has always been haunted by disasters, historical disaster research is a comparatively recent trend. This volume presents the research approach and work of the young academics’ network of the German Research Foundation “Historical disaster research with a view to comparative cultural study” (Historische Erforschung von Katastrophen in kulturvergleichender Perspektive).
The emphasis is on discussing concepts, methods and theoretical models for the specifically historical analysis of natural disasters. A number of case studies illustrate the potential of this line of research. The geographical focus is on Europe and the Mediterranean cultures, while the timescale extends from antiquity to the present. The spotlight is not just on the destructive consequences of disasters, but also on the culturally constructive follow-up. Questions are asked about the perception and interpretation of disasters in the interface between nature and culture, and on reactions to them. What makes cultures differently vulnerable to disasters and what can we learn from them? This joint research effort aims inter alia to contribute to a history of the concept (Begriffsgeschichte) of ‘disaster’ with a view to comparative cultural study in an interdisciplinary spirit.