Recovering home: Hurricane Katrina survivors rebuild homes in a digital community

Abstract

Abstract This article responds to the following questions: how are homes and a sense of community recreated through Hurricane Digital Memory Bank (HDMB) writing for Hurricane Katrina survivors, and perhaps more importantly how does the act of writing demonstrate a facilitated recovery from trauma? Specifically, the article explains the HDMB’s mission and my use of its ‘stories’. This article also conceptualizes writing about home and definitions of place as they relate to home, but focuses most of its theoretical attention on trauma, writing and healing. The article also introduces and explains my theory of relocution and how it bears on the research. Finally, this article shares writings about home posted on the HDMB by Katrina survivors and connects them explicitly with trauma and writing theory concerned with recovery or healing.