Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
Editor s Column Witnessing Catastrophe, Interpreting Catastrophe This issue focuses on catastrophe. It is a concept that calls out for a comparative approach; it compels and challenges us to think in an inter- and cr disci os ps- linary fashion. Thinking catastrophe today raises multiple questions. What constitutes a catastrophe? Is catastrophe another name for human tragedy, something to be feared and avoided? Or is it, from the perspective of neoliberalism, an opportunity to be exploited? Etymologically, catastrophe means an “overturning, sudden turn, conclusion” (OED), from the Greek kata, meaning “down” and strephein, or “turn.” How do we interpret and bear witness to a catastrophe, to a sudden upheaval in the norm that creates a break with the interpretive habits through which we make sense of that norm? We might ask whether a humanist framework is equipped to do justice to the topic of catastrophe. Does climate change call for rethinking catas- trophe aer ft the bio- genetic age of the Anthropocene, through a no huma n- n per- spective, if such a thing is possible? What historical catastrophes continue to serve an exemplary or paradigmatic function? And finally, whose catastrophe is heard and whose catastrophe remains silenced? In
The Comparatist – University of North Carolina Press
Published: Nov 1, 2017
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.