ABSTRACT Tongoa was one of the worst-hit islands in Vanuatu when it was struck on 13 March 2015 by Cyclone Pam, the most severe climatic event recorded in the South Pacific for several decades. Nearly all of the buildings on Tongoa were damaged by winds and flooding. However, exceptional this cyclone might have been, such disruptive events are frequent and widespread on Tongoa Island: landslides, volcanic eruptions, cyclones and droughts all contribute to shaping the universe of its inhabitants. This paper seeks to understand the category of disasta or ‘disaster’ and how it is constituted in the context of Tongoa Island, where there is no vernacular word to express the concept of catastrophe. Disasta is a subjective Bislama term, varying with circumstances, the impact of the phenomenon and the cultural and social identity of the group affected. Is there a threshold with which to measure and define disasters? Reflections from the perspective of an anthropology of nature and an anthropology of disaster reveal how considerations around the notion of catastrophe are closely intertwined with the relationships between people and their environment.

中文翻译：

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灾难：在飓风帕姆之后重新思考灾难的概念

摘要 汤戈亚是瓦努阿图受灾最严重的岛屿之一，2015 年 3 月 13 日，飓风帕姆袭击了它，这是南太平洋几十年来最严重的气候事件。汤戈亚几乎所有的建筑物都被大风和洪水损坏。然而，这种气旋可能是个例外，这种破坏性事件在汤戈亚岛上频繁发生且普遍存在：山体滑坡、火山爆发、气旋和干旱都有助于塑造其居民的世界。本文旨在了解灾难或“灾难”的类别以及它在通戈亚岛的背景下是如何构成的，在那里没有白话来表达灾难的概念。Disasta 是一个主观的比斯拉马语术语，随环境、现象的影响以及受影响群体的文化和社会身份而异。是否存在衡量和定义灾害的阈值？从自然人类学和灾难人类学的角度进行反​​思，揭示了围绕灾难概念的考虑如何与人与环境之间的关系密切相关。