Catastrophic Teleologies and Contemporary Memory Cultures

This chapter theorizes the relationship of catastrophes and memories by situating this nexus in different historical contexts, with a particular focus on the global age. More specifically, I suggest that contemporary Katastrophenerinnerungen are increasingly becoming Risikoerinnerungen (memories of risk). Katastrophenerinnerungen are about collective responses to uncertainty. These processes are conditioned by two co-extensive developments. One relates to the changing significance of futurity as ecological catastrophes are challenging the ontological security once provided by palliative nation-state narratives extolling progress as the main guide for control over the future. This shift toward risk is driven by the fact that national recourse to progress no longer captures social and political imaginaries – especially not since catastrophes and the framing and awareness thereof, seem to preclude any conclusive secular teleology. The second trajectory focuses on the role media plays in re-presenting catastrophes thereby shaping the contours of Katastrophenerinnerungen. I conclude that Katastrophenerinnerungen are less about the future but primarily collective responses to uncertainty.