In recent years, geographers conducting critical analyses of disasters have begun to examine the place of emotions and affects during disaster events. This paper includes findings from research based on people who have relocated to the... more
In recent years, geographers conducting critical analyses of disasters have begun to examine the place of emotions and affects during disaster events. This paper includes findings from research based on people who have relocated to the Waikato region after the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes and aftershocks in Aotearoa, New Zealand. I am especially interested in the ‘turn to affect’ which has been conceptualised as a means to link together, physicality, subconscious and psychosocial dimensions, and this framework is used to examine the narratives of disaster survivors. Based on Sarah Ahmed’s (2004) Cultural politics of emotion, I examine collective feelings through bodily proximity and connection. That is, affect circulates (moves) across and among bodies, we feel ‘moved’ by other people’s experiences but also emotions often align individuals into a wider milieu. For this research, qualitative interviews with 20 relocated households were conducted, and subsequently, the formation of a support group facilitated spontaneous focus groups. Using an affectual paradigm means also critically reading researcher–researched relationships and interconnections. Empathy and non-conscious ‘communication’ become integral analytics. Drawing on participants’ narratives, and specifically, taking note of the intense and intangible feelings that were often expressed by respondents, brings embodiment and the sub-conscious together, challenging the Cartesian split between mind and body. Consequently, I discuss the complexities of proximity and connection to other bodies in different geographical scales, as well as the formation of a ‘body collective’ through experiencing trauma.
