Representation Of Disaster Research Articles

‘We are not in the same boat’: Representations of disaster and recovery in India

‘Representations’ of recovery refer to the creation, circulation, reinforcement and subversion of ideas about what should be done in the months and years after a hazard has struck. The research reported in this paper outlines how contrasting and, in some cases, openly contested narratives can emerge in society around the nature and causes of the event, the impacts and needs of the affected population, and the priorities and effectiveness of recovery processes. We worked in three states in India – Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – collecting and collating a range of information on ideas, experiences and debates about disaster recovery from people in disaster-affected communities, from governmental and non-governmental organisations, from reports in the media, from academic studies and from official documentation. These related to major hazard events over the last two decades as well as recent events that hit the states prior to or during the course of the research.Though there is much variation between disaster cases in the pattern of representations by different actors, there are some discernible elements that do tend to work together to generate an effect on outcomes, often in ways that not only side-line livelihood and wellbeing priorities of disaster-affected people but also sometimes downplay or even negate the needs and rights of specific social groups. Managing disaster recovery is a hugely challenging task. However, it is not well served if the ways in which impacts and recovery needs are articulated lead to the effective exclusion of certain sectors, social groups, needs and concerns from full consideration, or to the blocking of alternative perspectives such as proactive approaches to future risk reduction. Key in this, we maintain, is the need to shift representations of recovery to better match the needs and voices of those most affected.

Ambivalent apocalypse: The influence of the Book of Revelation in films and television

Abstract Apocalyptic texts are a popular genre of film and television that commonly present humanity as decimated, or threatened by decimation. Zombie apocalyptic themes have become popular and are seen in 28 Days later (Boyle, 2002), I am Legend (Lawrence, 2008), The Walking Dead (2010–present) and Fear the Walking Dead (2015–present). Other films feature further other end-of-the-world scenarios, including cataclysmic natural disasters, pestilence and invasion. There are numerous examples of post-apocalypse texts, including Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968), Mad Max 2 (Miller, 1981), Reign of Fire (Bowman, 2002), The Day After Tomorrow (Emmerich, 2004), Children of Men (Cuaron, 2006), Left Behind (Armstrong, 2014) and Knowing (Proyes, 2009). The focus of the narrative in these texts, whether it be zombie plague or extinction-level event asteroid, is on how the characters in these stories come to terms with disaster, either before or after the apocalyptic event. Other texts examine cataclysmic events that befall the earth, such as Deep Impact (Leder, 1998), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) or 2012 (Emmerich, 2009). All these texts highlight prevailing attitudes and cultural anxieties, and can also be discussed in terms of the differences in the representation of disaster after September 11, 2001. This article examines the connection of these texts to religious prophecies from the Bible (Revelation) and how popular culture texts demonstrate an ambivalent relationship to predictions of apocalypse.

A Procedural Construction Method for Interactive Map Symbols Used for Disasters and Emergency Response

The timely and accurate mapping of dynamic disasters and emergencies is an important task that is necessary for supporting the decision-making that can improve the efficiency of rescue and response efforts. The existing emergency symbol libraries are primarily composed of point symbols and simple line symbols, focusing on the representation of disasters, related facilities, and operations. However, various existing response factors (e.g., the distribution and types of emergency forces) are also important for further decision-making and emergency responses; there is a need to design complex and diverse symbols to represent this rich information. Moreover, traditional mapping systems only provide static map symbols that cannot be easily edited after creation, making it difficult to support interactive editing after the symbols are mapped, thus hindering the representation of dynamic disasters and response factors. This article targets a solution of the above issues by proposing a procedural construction method of interactive map symbols for dynamic disasters and emergency responses. There are two primary research points. First, an emergency response and decision symbol library was classified and integrated into the existing attachments to form a richer symbol library for comprehensively representing disasters and emergencies. Second, an interactive map symbol procedural construction method was designed based on (1) primitive geometric compositions and geometric graphics algorithms to construct the map symbol graphics; (2) an interactive graphics control and drawing attributes configuration method to support user interactive editing of the visual variables of the mapped symbols; (3) and a dynamic updating and drawing strategy to support the real-time refreshing of the changing visual variables. The experiment was conducted using the Wenchuan earthquake as a case study, and the results demonstrate a powerful capacity of the produced interactive map symbols, which will contribute to the improvement of the mapping efficiency and representation capability of disasters and emergency response.

Framing responses to post‐earthquake Haiti

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to add a new dimension to urban resilience by exploring how representations of disasters, reconstruction and human settlements are made, and how, by shaping plans and programs, they ultimately influence resilience.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on James Scott's notion of “legibility” to ask how different representations simplify complex realities and how they are transformed into plans and programs. The paper first outlines the various broad analytic lens used to examine legibility to portray post‐disaster reconstruction, drawing on international literature and policies. The paper then focuses on post‐earthquake Haiti and analyzes eight reconstruction plans and reviews design proposals submitted for the Building Back Better Communities program to explore how different stakeholders portrayed the disaster, identified the reconstruction challenges and proposed to address human settlements.FindingsRepresentations of the disaster, the reconstruction challenge and the housing problem were quite varied. While the plans assumed a very broad view of the reconstruction challenge (one that goes beyond the representations found in the literature), the BBBC program adopted a very narrow view of it (one that the literature condemns for failing to achieve sustainable resilience).Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical research is exploratory, suggesting an approach that throws a new light on the analysis of plans and programs for improved resilience.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that the representations that decision makers, institutions and organizations make of the world ultimately establish the framework in which resilience is constructed.Originality/valueThe lens of legibility confirms that the expression of different representations makes the world legible in different ways and therefore transforms the way in which resilience can be improved.

Narrative Gravity: Conversation, Cognition, Culture (review)

Reviewed by: Narrative gravity: Conversation cognition culture by Rukmini Bhaya Nair Chaoqun Xie Narrative gravity: Conversation, cognition, culture. By Rukmini Bhaya Nair. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002. Pp. xii, 425. ISBN 041530735X. $80 (Hb). In this thought-provoking and stimulating book, the author integrates various theoretical frameworks and perspectives, such as structural linguistics, speech act theory, the cooperative principle, relevance theory, and conversation analysis, making an admirable effort to demonstrate her view of narrative as ‘a species of natural theory’. For Nair, narrative ‘is a culturally approved mode of performance’ (14), ‘is probably an important instrument of self-protection’ (18; italics in the original), and ‘is a structure that introduces the question of “why?” and the connective “because” into the world’ (344; italics in the original). This book contains eight chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion. As noted in the introduction (1–25), these eight core chapters focus on three paradoxes: John Searle’s paradox of fictional discourse, Daniel Dennett’s paradox of authorless narrative, and the author’s own paradox of the Indian rope trick of narrative. In Ch. 1, ‘Structural simplicities: The [End Page 353] grammar and context of narrative’ (26–68), N deals with William Labov’s structuralist approach to narrative analysis, focusing on three functional categories of narrativity—orientation (or abstract), evaluation, and coda. N points out that the ambiguous use of the term ‘context’ causes some difficulty in explaining the linear sequence of narrative order. In Ch. 2, ‘Force, fiction, fit and felicity: Narrative as a speech act’ (69–128), N scrutinizes J. L. Austin and John Searle’s influential speech act theory and challenges its rationality in the analysis of conversational narratives. In Ch. 3, ‘Performatives, perlocutions, pretence: Deconstruction and the narrative speech act’ (129–66), N analyzes Paul de Man’s and Jacques Derrida’s work, arguing that neither of them can ‘liberate speech act theory’ (131) and that the form of narrative may help solve some problems with the theory. In Ch. 4, ‘Cooperative conventions: Implied meanings in narrative’ (167–200), the author focuses on H. Paul Grice’s work. In this chapter, inspired by conversational implicature, N presents her version of narrative implicature for the first time. Ch. 5, ‘Rationality and relevance: Mental codes and cultural memes in narrative’ (201–48), is the most important chapter of this book. In it, N begins with Dennett’s views on self and memes, explaining in what sense narratives are authorless. After that, N shows how narrative grammar and memes can be linked to each other. Next, N presents her inferential model of narrative based on Dan Sperber and Dierdre Wilson’s relevance theory and applies it to the discussion of minimal narratives, arguing for ‘a tentative cognitive grammar of narrative’ (345). In Ch. 6, ‘Turns at talk: Ethnomethodological analysis of narrative’ (249–87), N introduces conversation analysis, pioneered by Harvey Sacks and his colleagues, into the study of narrative, compellingly demonstrating that the completion of narrative can also be a result of moment-by-moment evolution. In Ch. 7, ‘Self, state and solidarity: The politics of narrative’ (288–310), N aims to illustrate how governmental narratives make use of ‘the nominal kind/natural kind of distinction in the representation of disaster’ (292). In Ch. 8, ‘Explaining enigmas from evidence: The cause of evidence’ (311–40), N concludes that conversation, cognition, and narrative can be integrated as an organic whole and that the cause of narrativity is also a narrative of causality (340). In the conclusion (341–79), N presents 259 ‘final narrative sutras’, reiterating all the major arguments presented in previous chapters. The book ends with five appendices, a bibliography, and an index (380–425). In sum, N’s presentation helps to deepen our understanding of narrative and a variety of issues pertaining to it. This excellent text will be of much interest to those concerned with cognitive, anthropological, and sociological approaches to the study of narrative. Chaoqun Xie Fujian Normal University Copyright © 2004 Linguistic Society of America