PÅ SIKKER GRUND: Genhusning efter tsunamien i Tamil Nadu

Resumé

This article explores the various meanings ascribed to destroyed, repaired and

newly constructed houses in the South Indian fi shing village of Tharangambadi

which was heavily affected by the tsunami disaster in December 2004. The article

focuses on re-housing both as implemented by authorities and as understood by

the survivors, thereby investigating divergent notions of danger and safety. The

overall argument is that re-housing as a spatial practice is a much more comprehensive

process than the mere shift of locality from a disaster-prone area to a

safe area. By looking at practices of re-housing and the ways in which both old

and new houses are engaged with and appropriated, it becomes clear that what is

at stake for the survivors in Tharangambadi is a general attempt at establishing

a sense of control over the physical surroundings, the trust in which was temporarily

ruined by the tsunami. The article shows how in a disaster-affected region

the sense of inhabiting a safe ground is dependent on something other and more

than solid walls.

Keywords: Catastrophy, security, hominess, materiality.