Historical Disaster Experiences: Towards a Comparative and Transcultural History of Disasters Across Asia and Europe

430 Pages·2017·15.55 MB·English

by  Gerrit Jasper Schenk (eds.)

Historical Disaster
Experiences
Towards a Comparative and
Transcultural History of Disasters
Across Asia and Europe
Gerrit Jasper Schenk Editor
123
Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies
on Asia and Europe in a Global Context
Serieseditors
MadeleineHerren
ThomasMaissen
JosephMaran
AxelMichaels
BarbaraMittler
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/8753
Gerrit Jasper Schenk
Editor
Historical Disaster
Experiences
Towards a Comparative and Transcultural
History of Disasters Across Asia and Europe
Editor
GerritJasperSchenk
FachgebietMittelalterlicheGeschichte
InstitutfürGeschichte
Darmstadt,Germany
ISSN2191-656X ISSN2191-6578 (electronic)
TransculturalResearch–HeidelbergStudiesonAsiaandEuropeinaGlobalContext
ISBN978-3-319-49162-2 ISBN978-3-319-49163-9 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-49163-9
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017934489
©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2017
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Acknowledgments
Thatbooksalsohaveadestinypriortotheirmakingiswellknown.Thisvolumeis
noexception.Astheeditor,Iamhappyandrelievedthatthelongprocessofediting
andprinting,whichreallystretchedthepatienceoftheauthors,hascometoanend.
Therefore, I wish to express my gratitude first of all to the contributors of this
volumefortheirfaithintheproject.
Thankstoallthosewhohavesupportedtheworkonthelongroadtoprinting,in
particularKristineChalyan-Daffner,EleonorMarcussen,MartinBauch,JuliaItin,
BenediktMette,SusanneDressler-Mutz,RobertSchwank,andAndreaHacker—all
team membersinHeidelberg andDarmstadt, who have contributed tothe success
of the preceding conferences in Heidelberg, Beirut, and New Delhi and thus to
the development of the volume. Without Elaine Griffiths’ thorough editing, the
adventureofassemblingavolumeofEnglishtextsfromallkindsoflinguisticand
culturalbackgroundsintoareadablewholewouldcertainlynothavebeenpossible.
Languagenuancesandcoloring,however,areunavoidable:thosewhodoresearch
inacross-culturalperspectiveconsidervariationanenrichment.
Thetopicofthisvolumemaybegloomyatfirstglance,butitisworththeeffort:
research on the historical dimension of disaster experiences shows not only that
cultures are sensitive tissues but also how elastic they are and what surprising
patterns,combinations, and opportunities for change they offer. This book invites
thereadertodiscoverthediversityandsimilaritiesoftheseexperiencesandthusto
learn about oneself. As the editor, this is what I am grateful for: the additional
insight thatIhave gainedfromthecollected research onthe topic ofthisvolume.
Ihopeandwishthatthereaderswillbeabletosharethesameexperience.
December2015 GerritJasperSchenk
v
Contents
PartI StateofResearch,Concepts,andMethods
HistoricalDisasterExperiences:FirstStepsTowardaComparative
andTransculturalHistoryofDisastersAcrossAsiaandEurope
inthePreindustrialEra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
GerritJasperSchenk
LivingwithHazard:DisasterSubcultures,DisasterCultures
andRisk-MitigatingStrategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
GregBankoff
PartII MaterialityofDisasters:NaturalImpact,SocialExperience
SeveralNaturalDisastersintheMiddleEast(attheBeginning
oftheEleventhCentury)andTheirConsequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
JulietteRassi
Fana¯ʾandFasa¯d:PerceptionsandConceptsofCrisesandDisasters
inFourteenth-CenturyEgypt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
SarahBüssow-Schmitz
TheBlackDeathandtheHumanImpactontheEnvironment. . . . . . . . 93
StuartBorsch
TheDaytheSunTurnedBlue:AVolcanicEruptionintheEarly
1460sandItsPossibleClimaticImpact—ANaturalDisaster
PerceivedGloballyintheLateMiddleAges?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
MartinBauch
CulturalImplicationsofNaturalDisasters:HistoricalReports
oftheVolcanoEruptionofJuly,1256CE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
GeorgeSaliba
vii
viii Contents
WhenEuropeWasBurning:TheMulti-seasonMega-drought
of1540andArsonistParanoia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
ChristianPfister
PartIII HeavenandEarth:SearchingforReasons
“AssurWillSuffer:”PredictingDisasterinAncientEgypt. . . . . . . . . . 189
JoachimFriedrichQuack
“Natural”DisastersintheArabicAstro-meteorologicalMalhama
˙
Handbooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
KristineChalyan-Daffner
TracingtheWilloftheStars:IndianAstrologyandDivinationAbout
NaturalDisastersandThreats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
AudriusBeinorius
Explainingthe1934Bihar-NepalEarthquake:TheRoleofScience,
Astrology,and“Rumours”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
EleonorMarcussen
PartIV UrbanExperience:EarthquakesandFires
The1173/1759EarthquakeinDamascusandtheContinuation
ofArchitecturalTradition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
VerenaDaiber
LivingwithDisaster:AleppoandtheEarthquakeof1822. . . . . . . . . . . 295
StefanKnost
“TheGreatFireinCairoin1321:”InteractionsBetweenNature
andSociety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
SyrinxvonHees
PerceivingUrbanFireRegimesinEuropeandChina(1830to1870):
BritishFireInsuranceBusinessesandtheSuddenChallenge
ofGlobalisation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
CornelZwierlein
PartV FrequentExperienceandAdaptations:FloodsandLandscapes
ofDefence
EconomicAdaptationtoRiskyEnvironmentsintheLateMiddleAges:
TheCaseoftheAccruesoftheDoubsinChaussin(Jura,France)from
c.1370toc.1500. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
ThomasLabbe´
Contents ix
Measuring“Disaster”:The“Everydayness”ofFluvialLandscapes
andtheColonialStateinGangeticDiaras,1790s–1880s. . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
NitinSinha
Whenthe“Deluge”Happened:TheFloodof1929intheSurma–Barak
ValleyofColonialAssam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
MonisankarMisra
AlpineLandscapesofDefence:OnModern-VernacularAvalanche
ProtectionSystemsintheSwissAlps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
MichaelFalser
NameIndex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
PlaceIndex. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 427
SubjectIndex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Part I
State of Research, Concepts, and Methods