ABSTRACT

In the aftermath of a firestorm, many survivors will spend time with the ruins of their homes, fossicking through the rubble or simply being present with the transformed space. Through a series of oral history interviews with survivors of the 2003 Canberra firestorm in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), this paper investigates ruined homes as spaces imbued with memory – of the fire itself, of life before the fires, and of a once imagined future. By examining the first hours and days after the firestorm, we explore the complex temporalities and spatial meanings at play in spaces that are simultaneously understood as both home and ruins. We argue that the unmaking of home by fire is a gradual process. In resistance to the rapid destruction of fire, and before the clearing of ruins by demolition crews, many firestorm survivors enact a slow and embodied process of unmaking. This enactment allows both a coming to terms with the fire’s material impacts and a careful engagement with the space’s mnemonic resonances. It provides important lessons for a 21^st century where more frequent and intense disasters will continue to result in engagement with home-in-ruins.

摘要

在一场大火过后，许多幸存者会花时间在他们家园的废墟上，在瓦砾中淘金，或者只是呆在改造后的空间里。通过对 2003 年澳大利亚首都领地 (ACT) 堪培拉大火的幸存者进行一系列口述历史访谈，本文调查了被毁房屋作为充满记忆的空间——关于火灾本身、火灾前的生活，以及曾经想象的未来。通过检查风暴过后的最初几个小时和几天，我们探索了在同时被理解为家园和废墟的空间中发挥作用的复杂时间性和空间意义。我们认为，火毁家是一个渐进的过程。为了抵抗火灾的迅速破坏，在拆除人员清理废墟之前，许多火灾幸存者制定了一个缓慢而具体的拆毁过程。这种制定既可以接受火灾的物质影响，也可以仔细参与空间的助记共鸣。它为 21 岁的人提供了重要的教训^st世纪，更频繁和更严重的灾难将继续导致与废墟家园的接触。