Individual and collective memories of Kamisy cyclone (1984) and Feliksa tropical storm (1985) in Mayotte Island (Indian Ocean)
Topics:
Keywords: cyclone, storm, memory, risk culture, disaster, South-West Indian Ocean
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract
Authors:
Esméralda Longépée, University of Mayotte - UMR Espace Dev
Axel Dupuich, University of Mayotte - UMR Espace Dev
Le Duff Matthieu, University of Mayotte - UMR Espace Dev
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Abstract
The study of disaster narratives reveals how storytellers experienced the event, expressed their emotions, described the event at various times (before, during and after) and how those temporalities fit into their storytelling. Each story is based on an individual's memory of the event, contribute to the collective memory and is rebuilt by the collective memory, providing elements of understanding of the disaster's social experiments. These narratives are especially valuable in oral-culture societies, such as the French oversea territory of Mayotte Island. Mayotte was severely impacted by the Kamisy cyclone (first level on the Saffir-Simpson scale) and the Feliksa tropical storm in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Those events are both close enough to collect testimonies and distant to allow a processes of memory building. The aim here is to examine the scope and pattern of collective memory of both events in a territory where institutions have little influence in the building of a collective memory (e. g. no commemorative monuments or ceremonies). Ongoing individual interviews are carried out in four Mayotte villages with people who were at least ten years old in 1984. The analysis will highlight the diversity of individual experiences and emotions to these two catastrophic events. The various narratives will be compared in order to identify recurring elements in discourses that may have contributed to or been influenced by collective memory.
Individual and collective memories of Kamisy cyclone (1984) and Feliksa tropical storm (1985) in Mayotte Island (Indian Ocean)
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Paper Abstract