The “cultural turn” of climate history

An emerging field for studies of China and East Asia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12929455
AutoresFiona Williamson (0000-0002-1203-8546, Singapore Management University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen11
Número3
Fecha de publicación2020-01-07
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaWiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1757-7780 • E-ISSN: 1757-7799
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/wcc.635
OpenAlexW2999848362
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas59

The last few years have seen a surge of scholarly interest in how cultures have been influenced by climate, climatic changes, and extremes of weather. This “cultural turn” of climate history draws from the archives of society, rather than the archives of nature, and is heavily influenced by interpretative and methodological frameworks drawn from the humanities fields. Attention has been largely focused on European contexts and cultures. This article aims to show, however, that the climate history of Asia is on the cusp of developing its own strong cultural turn and that strong foundations and precedents have already been set. This article has two main objectives. The first is to explore approaches in the history of the climate in East Asia that claim to investigate interactions between climatic changes or extreme events and society and culture. Many of these are macro studies, comparing climatic changes with dramatic events in history. Then, it will take a closer look at scholarship that has focused closely on the ideas and beliefs that characterize a society, showing how regional customs and philosophical systems have developed in relation to weather. It will argue that better integration between the two approaches is needed if we are to fully grasp the interdependence of people and climate, a question that becomes ever more critical as we move further into the Anthropocene. This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > World Historical Perspectives

Anthropocene · Archaeology · China · Climate change · Cultural turn · East Asia · Environmental ethics · Political science · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Financial Crisis of the 21st Century · History · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies · Ecology