Dealing with Disasters from Early Modern to Modern Times Cultural Responses to Catastrophes

• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Amsterdam University Press 2023
• Series: Disaster Studies
• Subjects: Disasters, culture, representation, identity, history; thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism; thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History; thema EDItEUR::R Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning::RN The environment::RNR Natural disasters
• Online Access: Open Access: DOAB: description of the publication; Open Access: DOAB, download the publication
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (338 p.)
• ISBN: 9789463725798
• Access: Open Access

Disasters are as much cultural as natural phenomena. For centuries, news about catastrophic events has been disseminated through media such as chronicles, pamphlets, newspapers, poems, drawings, and prints. Nowadays, we are overwhelmed with news about the cataclysmic effects of recent forest fires, floods, and storms. Due to the ongoing climate crisis, extreme weather events will likely have ever greater impacts on our lives. This volume addresses cultural representations of catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and earthquakes over the centuries. In the past as now, artists and authors try to make sense of disasters, grasp their impact, and communicate moral, religious, or political messages. These creations reflect and shape how people learn and think about disasters that occur nearby or far away, both in time and space. The parallels between past and present underline how this book contributes to modern debates about cultural and creative strategies in response to disasters.