Moving Mountains: Memory, Identity, and the Geological Imaginary after Landslide Disasters

移山：记忆、身份和滑坡灾害后的地质想象

• 批准号: AH/V010220/1
• 负责人: Rebecca Jarman
• 金额: $ 25.79万
• 依托单位: University of Leeds
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FV010220%2F1
• 关键词: Moving; Mountains; Memory; Identity; Geological

Mountains are often thought to be dormant landmarks, but they exist in constant and vibrant motion. Sometimes, their movements upset the course of history. Landslides and earthquakes unleash spontaneous destruction. My project explores the legacies of mountains that move. It examines the lasting imprints that they leave on people, communities, and places. I set out to discover how the challenges of recovery are navigated in the cultural imaginary among societies destroyed by landslides. Across two communities, I compare the roles of collective memory, visual narratives, commemoration, and storytelling in rebuilding lives that have been shattered by mountain disasters. I seek to determine how mountains shape memories, fears, and aspirations after causing widespread devastation. In highlighting the animate qualities of mountains, my project contributes to lively debates on the anthropocene. We have entered a geological age that is marked by human activity. Our tracks on the crust of the earth may be uncovered by our descendants. Some theorists conceive of the environment as an influential actor that has facilitated the behaviour which leaves these markings. By providing the natural resources that have fueled industrial growth, the environment -- so the argument goes -- has contributed to an extractive model of development. Others maintain that humans alone are responsible for this trajectory of production. It is capitalism that has altered the structural composition of our planet, and not planetary motion. For this school of thought, our extractive practices may put an end to life as we know it. They compromise the very notion that our present will be legible to future generations.My research enters into this debate by investigating mountains that move for different reasons. On the one hand, I look at the legacy of the 1966 disaster in Aberfan, which was caused by negligent tipping practices, and which contributed to the contraction of the mining industry as it then existed in Britain. On the other hand, I study the legacy of a landslide that buried the Peruvian town of Yungay in 1970, triggered by an earthquake, where recovery from the disaster was predicated on the expansion of regional mining. Taken together, these responses show how geological disasters can accelerate shifts in a world economy that is predicated on the cheap extraction of minerals. The evolution of humanity has shaped our planet. The shape of our planet has conditioned our movements. This convergence serves to implicate distant and different societies that otherwise seem disconnected. These communities have important stories to tell about mountains that move, about places that disappear, and about identities that are tied to environmental devastation. To uncover these stories, I search in regional archives and listen to survivors and their families. I visit memory sites and observe commemorative activities to understand how identities coalesce around these events and landmarks. I read testimonial works and fictional texts to appreciate how communication and creativity can mitigate the trauma imparted by disaster. In a series of school workshops, I map these places as they exist today, as they have been shaped by landslides in the past and as they rebuild towards the future. With these research findings, I will create an engaging body of work that includes a book, an edited volume, a book chapter, a series of podcasts, and a set of educational resources. My outputs will stimulate a conversation between the related but disparate fields of disaster studies, memory studies, and geological humanities. They will emphasize that disasters are planetary processes and that responses to disasters are configured by planetary structures. Most importantly, my research valorizes the experiences of those who are most familiar with the movements of mountains, and who might teach us about their impacts.

山脉通常被认为是休眠的地标，但它们存在于不断和充满活力的运动中。有时，他们的行动打乱了历史的进程。山体滑坡和地震会造成自然的破坏。我的项目探索移动的山脉的遗产。它考察了他们对人，社区和地方留下的持久印记。我开始探索如何在被山体滑坡摧毁的社会中，在文化想象中应对复苏的挑战。在两个社区，我比较了集体记忆，视觉叙事，纪念和讲故事在重建被山区灾害摧毁的生活中的作用。我试图确定山脉在造成广泛破坏后如何塑造记忆，恐惧和愿望。在强调山脉的生命特质的同时，我的项目也为关于山脉的激烈辩论做出了贡献。我们已经进入了一个以人类活动为标志的地质时代。我们在地壳上留下的足迹可能会被我们的后代发现。一些理论家认为环境是一个有影响力的行为者，它促进了留下这些标记的行为。通过提供自然资源来推动工业增长，环境-这种观点认为-促成了一种采掘式的发展模式。其他人则认为，只有人类才对这种生产轨迹负责。是资本主义改变了我们星球的结构组成，而不是行星运动。在这一学派看来，我们的开采行为可能会终结我们所知道的生命。它们损害了我们的现在将被后代所理解的概念。我的研究通过调查因不同原因而移动的山脉进入了这场辩论。一方面，我着眼于1966年阿伯凡灾难的遗留问题，这是由疏忽的小费做法造成的，这导致了当时英国采矿业的萎缩。另一方面，我研究了1970年秘鲁Yungay镇因地震引发的山体滑坡的遗留问题，在那里，灾难的恢复取决于区域采矿业的扩张。总的来说，这些反应表明地质灾害如何加速以廉价开采矿物为基础的世界经济的转变。人类的进化塑造了我们的星球。地球的形状制约了我们的运动。这种趋同有助于将遥远和不同的社会联系起来，否则这些社会似乎是脱节的。这些社区有重要的故事要讲，关于移动的山脉，关于消失的地方，关于与环境破坏有关的身份。为了揭开这些故事，我在地区档案中搜索，并听取幸存者和他们的家人。我参观记忆遗址，观察纪念活动，以了解身份如何围绕这些事件和地标凝聚。我阅读了一些纪念性的作品和虚构的文本，以了解沟通和创造力如何减轻灾难带来的创伤。在一系列的学校工作坊中，我绘制了这些地方的地图，因为它们今天存在，因为它们在过去被山体滑坡所塑造，因为它们正在朝着未来重建。有了这些研究成果，我将创建一个引人入胜的工作机构，包括一本书，一个编辑卷，一个书的章节，一系列播客，和一套教育资源。我的成果将激发灾害研究、记忆研究和地质人文学等相关但不同的领域之间的对话。他们将强调灾害是全球性的过程，对灾害的反应是由全球结构决定的。最重要的是，我的研究评估了那些最熟悉山脉运动的人的经验，他们可能会教我们山脉的影响。