Understanding memory transmission in disaster risk reduction practices

A case study from Japan

Dados Bibliográficos

ID22028982
AutoresPaola Fontanella Pisa (0000-0001-8462-0714, Eurac Research, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume100
Páginas104112
Data de publicação2024-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2212-4209
EditoraElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104112
OpenAlexW4388561360
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas7
Referências citadas29

“Disasters strike when they have faded from memory”, is a powerful quote from the Japanese geophysicist Terada Torahiko (1878–1935). This sentence, often used when addressing the need to improve disaster resilience, is a powerful reminder of the role that local memories of past disasters play in ensuring the safety of communities exposed to hazards. Twelve years from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) that hit Japan Tohoku's East Coast, this article aims at understanding how the transmission of local knowledge and experiences of past disasters contributes to increasing community resilience to tsunami risks. Based on field research along the coast of the Japanese prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, this study analyses 11 semi-structured in-depth interviews, to investigate the role of memory transmission in preparing for tsunami risks such as the GEJET. The data was analysed following a narrative approach and through thematic coding with the use of NVivo. Coding structures led to the identification of disaster memory transmission practices in the case study areas and allowed the testing of the relevance of the theoretical framework to community disaster resilience studies. Results are aligned with the theoretical framework and show that disaster memorials are more likely to influence community resilience if passed down using a combination of oral transmission and interpretation together with the use of backup memory archives and physical objects. Such practices are recommended as they allow both the communicability and durability of lessons-learned. Transmitting and maintaining a constant interaction between these two forms of memory is the responsibility of those institutions that oversee the keeping alive of memories, by continuously repurposing and renewing them while engaging with exposed communities

Computer security · Disaster risk reduction · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Forensic engineering · Geography · Qualitative research · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Computer Science · Disaster Management and Resilience · Engineering · Environmental Science · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration