The Spectrality of Nuclear Catastrophe: The Case of Chernobyl

The paper is a presentation of our research focused on the ecological disaster caused by the explosion of the nuclear power plant reactor in Chernobyl in 1986, in terms of its social, cultural and artistic context. We apply the concepts of hyperobject (Morton) and hauntology (Derrida), and autoethnographic method (Adams, Jones, Ellis), in an attempt to reveal human and nonhuman agencies in the description of the catastrophe’s long-term cultural consequences. In the autoethnographic and investigative-artistic part of our research we analyse our interactive installation, Post-Apocalypsis (2015), but also historical facts and private narratives. The notion of hyperobject in connection with the autoethnographic methods and investigative-artistic part of our research serves to trace the process of displacing phenomena, facts and private narratives about the Chernobyl accident in the context of time and space. The concept of hauntology enabled us to go beyond the uncovering of recurring cultural, political, social micronarrations and fear about nuclear energy in Poland.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Agnieszka Jelewska

Michał Krawczak

Conference

Publication date: May 2018

Publication date (Print): May 2018

Pages: 1-8

Affiliations

[1 ] Humanities /Art /Technology Research Centre

Adam Mickiewicz University

Poznan, Poland

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.30

SO-VID: a38cf669-d015-4959-aab7-7420c78f34ea

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Politics of the Machines - Art and After

Conference acronym: EVA Copenhagen

Conference number: 7

Conference location: Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark

Conference date: 15 - 17 May 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Digital arts and culture

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.30

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

T. E AdamsS. H JonesC Ellis 2015 Autoethnography (Understanding Qualitative Research) Oxford Oxford University Press
S Alexievich 2005 Voices from Chernobyl: the oral history of a nuclear disaster London Dalkey Archive Press
S Alexievich 2016 Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future London Penguin Classics
A AuvinenK SeppäK PasanenP KurttioT PatamaE PukkalaS HeinävaaraH ArvelaP VerkasaloT Hakulinen 2014 Chernobyl fallout and cancer incidence in Finland 1988–2007 International Journal of Cancer 01 May 2014 134(9)2253 2263
U Beck 1986 Risikogesellschaft. Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp
G Böhme 2017 The Aesthetics of atmosphere: ambiances, atmospheres and sensory experience of spaces New York Routledge
C Davis 2005 Hauntology, spectres and phantoms French Studies 59 3 373 379
J Derrida 1994 Spectres of Marx: The State of the Debts, the Work of Mourning and the New International New York Routledge
A Giddens 1999 Risk and Responsibility Modern Law Review 62 1 1 10
A. F Herman 2014 Ghosts, vampires, zombies, and us: The undead as autoethnographic bridges International Review of Qualitative Research 7 327 341
Z Jaworowski 1999 Radiation Risk and Ethics Physics Today Vol.52 9 24 29
Z Jaworowski 2010a Observations on the Chernobyl Disaster and LNT Dose-Response 01/2010 148 171
Z Jaworowski 2010b Observations on Chernobyl After 25 Years of Radiophobia 21st Century Science & Technology Summer 2010 30 46
A JelewskaM Krawczak 2014 The difficult relations between art, science and technology in Poland A Jelewska Art and technology in Poland. From cybercommunism to the culture of makers Poznan Adam Mickiewicz University Press 15 39 http://artandsciencestudies.com/en/publikacje/artand-technology-in-poland/ 6 05 2018
I Kostin 2006 Chernobyl: Confessions of a Reporter New York Umbrage Editions
O Kuchinskaya 2014 The Politics of Invisibility: Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl Cambridge The MIT Press
T Morton 2013 Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World Minnesota University of Minnesota Press
T Morton 2016 Dark ecology. For a Logic of Future Coexistence New York Columbia University Press
T Morton 2017 Humankind. Solidarity with Nonhuman People New York Verso Books
A Petryna 2013 Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl Princeton Princeton University Press
M RaskaR SaxénbJ RuuhijärviaL ArvolacM JärvinendU KoskelainenbI OutolabP. J Vuorinene 2012 Short- and long-term patterns of 137Cs in fish and other aquatic organisms of small forest lakes in southern Finland since the Chernobyl accident Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 103 2012 41 47
T Saiko 2017 Environmental Crises: Geographical Case Studies in Post-Socialists Eurasia New York Routledge
V. K Savchenko 1995 The ecology of the Chernobyl catastrophe: scientific outlines of international programme of collaborative research Paris UNESCO and The Parthenon Publishing Group
T SemizohV PutyrskayaG ZiboldE Klemt 2008 Time-dependency of the Cs-137 contamination of wild boar from a region in Southern Germany in the years 1998 to 2008 Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 100 2009 988 992
G Steinhauser 2016 Cs-137 in the meat of wild boars: a comparison of the impacts of Chernobyl and Fukushima Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Volume 307 3 1801 1806
N Tronko 2017 Thyroid neoplasia risk is increased nearly 30 years after the Chernobyl accident International Journal of Cancer 141(8)1585 1588
L Zablotska 2016 30 years After the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident: Time for Reflection and Reevaluation of Current Disaster Preparedness Plans Journal of Urban Health 93 3 407 13

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] T. E AdamsS. H JonesC Ellis 2015 Autoethnography (Understanding Qualitative Research) Oxford Oxford University Press

[2] S Alexievich 2005 Voices from Chernobyl: the oral history of a nuclear disaster London Dalkey Archive Press

[3] S Alexievich 2016 Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future London Penguin Classics

[4] A AuvinenK SeppäK PasanenP KurttioT PatamaE PukkalaS HeinävaaraH ArvelaP VerkasaloT Hakulinen 2014 Chernobyl fallout and cancer incidence in Finland 1988–2007 International Journal of Cancer 01 May 2014 134(9)2253 2263

[5] U Beck 1986 Risikogesellschaft. Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp

[6] G Böhme 2017 The Aesthetics of atmosphere: ambiances, atmospheres and sensory experience of spaces New York Routledge

[7] C Davis 2005 Hauntology, spectres and phantoms French Studies 59 3 373 379

[8] J Derrida 1994 Spectres of Marx: The State of the Debts, the Work of Mourning and the New International New York Routledge

[9] A Giddens 1999 Risk and Responsibility Modern Law Review 62 1 1 10

[10] A. F Herman 2014 Ghosts, vampires, zombies, and us: The undead as autoethnographic bridges International Review of Qualitative Research 7 327 341

[11] Z Jaworowski 1999 Radiation Risk and Ethics Physics Today Vol.52 9 24 29

[12] Z Jaworowski 2010a Observations on the Chernobyl Disaster and LNT Dose-Response 01/2010 148 171

[13] Z Jaworowski 2010b Observations on Chernobyl After 25 Years of Radiophobia 21st Century Science & Technology Summer 2010 30 46

[14] A JelewskaM Krawczak 2014 The difficult relations between art, science and technology in Poland A Jelewska Art and technology in Poland. From cybercommunism to the culture of makers Poznan Adam Mickiewicz University Press 15 39 http://artandsciencestudies.com/en/publikacje/artand-technology-in-poland/ 6 05 2018

[15] I Kostin 2006 Chernobyl: Confessions of a Reporter New York Umbrage Editions

[16] O Kuchinskaya 2014 The Politics of Invisibility: Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl Cambridge The MIT Press

[17] T Morton 2013 Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World Minnesota University of Minnesota Press

[18] T Morton 2016 Dark ecology. For a Logic of Future Coexistence New York Columbia University Press

[19] T Morton 2017 Humankind. Solidarity with Nonhuman People New York Verso Books

[20] A Petryna 2013 Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl Princeton Princeton University Press

[21] M RaskaR SaxénbJ RuuhijärviaL ArvolacM JärvinendU KoskelainenbI OutolabP. J Vuorinene 2012 Short- and long-term patterns of 137Cs in fish and other aquatic organisms of small forest lakes in southern Finland since the Chernobyl accident Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 103 2012 41 47

[22] T Saiko 2017 Environmental Crises: Geographical Case Studies in Post-Socialists Eurasia New York Routledge

[23] V. K Savchenko 1995 The ecology of the Chernobyl catastrophe: scientific outlines of international programme of collaborative research Paris UNESCO and The Parthenon Publishing Group

[24] T SemizohV PutyrskayaG ZiboldE Klemt 2008 Time-dependency of the Cs-137 contamination of wild boar from a region in Southern Germany in the years 1998 to 2008 Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 100 2009 988 992

[25] G Steinhauser 2016 Cs-137 in the meat of wild boars: a comparison of the impacts of Chernobyl and Fukushima Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Volume 307 3 1801 1806

[26] N Tronko 2017 Thyroid neoplasia risk is increased nearly 30 years after the Chernobyl accident International Journal of Cancer 141(8)1585 1588

[27] L Zablotska 2016 30 years After the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident: Time for Reflection and Reevaluation of Current Disaster Preparedness Plans Journal of Urban Health 93 3 407 13

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