Cultural resilience and coping with disasters in the past: A theoretical framework

This article proposes a novel theoretical framework for the study of cultural resilience in the context of historical disasters. Defined as the cultural practices by which communities cope with current calamities, past disasters, and possible future threats, cultural resilience can be divided into four basic elements: sense-making, charity, commemoration, and – as a result of the previous three – community building. We further distinguish both social and temporal dimensions. The social dimension pertains directly to those communities involved with the disaster, whereas the temporal dimension refers to the way in which sense-making, charity, and commemorative practices relate, not only to the past and the present, but also the future. The framework is illustrated with two historical case studies: eighteenth-century conflagrations – the devastating fires that befell several Dutch towns – and the 1953 North Sea Flood. • Introduces a novel theoretical framework for the cultural history of disasters revolving the concept of cultural resilience. • Outlines four elements that constitute cultural resilience: (1) sense-making, (2) mobilizing charity, (3) commemoration, and (4) community building. • Applies the model to two illustrative case studies from the Netherlands: late-eighteenth-century fire disasters and the North Sea Flood of 1953. • Suggests avenues for further research, including the adverse sides of community building.