Flood memories – media, narratives and remembrance of wet landscapes in England

Abstract

Floods are a threat to livelihoods and landscapes in many places around the world and at many points in history. Yet, they also seem to be an intrinsic component of many landscapes and livelihoods. This article explores the interconnection of multi-directional narratives of flooding through the representation of the memories of inhabitants of wet landscapes in past and present England. The article will illustrate three aspects of the relationship between floods and memory: first, the contextual mediation of flood memories in the contemporary moment. Here audio-visual and textual media (photographs, newspapers articles, television news broadcasts) of present and past flooding compete for our attention; second, the documentation of the early modern English treatment of a changing ‘wateryscape’ and whether we can discern dis/continua with and in contemporary media; and third, the dis/connecting narratives of living with floods in the present day. We emphasize that remembering and forgetting floods is an active and creative process for both flooding communities and those who research them. Stories and experiences of past floods are strategically used within, between and across communities to construct a particular sense of self and a statement on vulnerability and resilience to floods. Thereby the article contributes to developing a creative engagement between past and present, which goes beyond encompassing hegemonic narratives of historical and environmental change by reinforcing the potential of researching everyday, experiential landscapes beyond arbitrary periodization.

Sustainable flood memory: Remembering as resilience

“…Thus, future researchers should not limit the study of flood memory to the contemporary period. As we have suggested and published elsewhere, there are deeper histories that draw remembering and forgetting into a relationship with flood preparedness (see Krause et al, 2013;.…”

“…As Krause et al (2013) argue, ‘[f]loods are a threat to livelihoods and landscapes in many places around the world and at many points in history. Yet, they also seem to be an intrinsic component of many landscapes and livelihoods’ (p. 218).…”

‘A glorious time?’ Some reflections on flooding in the Somerset Levels

“…Such forgetting therefore occurs for a whole gamut of reasons – coping with trauma and emotion; denial of risk; deferral of responsibility; total confidence in engineering protection (see Krause et al . ). However, memory can be organised and mobilised in newly formed ‘associations’ campaigning for local mitigation and dredging from agencies and government.…”

The Micro-Politics of Water Management in Early Modern England: Regulation and Representation in Commissions of Sewers

“…Typically, when juries were sent out to 'survey, reform and peruse' or make 'viewe & survey' of walls and drains they did as much talking as they did looking. 73 Their reports were based on a series of interrogatories which required a combination of visual assessments and interviews with local people. 74 Juries gathered a great deal of oral and customary evidence relating to landholding and flood defence practices which they presented orally.…”