Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17234/RadoviZHP.57.10
From Apocalypse to Spectacle: Figures of Memory and Narrative Transformations of the 1667 Earthquake in the Cultural Memory of Dubrovnik (Summary)
Ivana Brković
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Abstract
The Great Earthquake that devastated Dubrovnik in 1667 has generated a long and evolving tradition of cultural remembrance. This article traces how that memory has been reshaped from the eighteenth century to the present. Building on earlier research that focused on texts produced during the period of “primary trauma”, which sought to mobilise the community in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe, the present study turns to later representations that reflect the gradual routinisation of trauma. Drawing on Jan Assmann’s theory of cultural memory and William Reddy’s history of emotions, the analysis examines the diachronic transformation of the earthquake’s “master narrative” and its key figures of memory. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between these narrative forms, shifting emotional regimes, and changing modes of collective identity formation. The corpus includes a range of historiographical and literary genres, from didactic epic and nineteenth-century drama to postmodern fiction, children’s picture books, and popular historical narratives. These transformations can be traced in works by authors such as S. M. Crijević, B. Stay, F. M. Appendini, M. Ban, L. Vojnović, R. Samardžić, F. Šehović, and V. Mezei. The article follows the narrative’s trajectory from Baroque theodicy and Enlightenment rationalism, through the Romantic sacralisation of the homeland, to postmodern deconstruction and the contemporary commodification of heritage.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
352377
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2025.
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