Stories of Disaster as Sites of Mitigation: Knowledge Production and Affective Engagement in the Narrativization of Nuclear Incidents in Different Media.

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Title: Stories of Disaster as Sites of Mitigation: Knowledge Production and Affective Engagement in the Narrativization of Nuclear Incidents in Different Media.
Authors: Butler, Martin1 (AUTHOR) martin.butler@uni-oldenburg.de, Farzin, Sina2 (AUTHOR), Fuchs, Michael3 (AUTHOR), Hornidge, Anna-Katharina4 (AUTHOR), Schimank, Uwe5 (AUTHOR)
Source: Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning & Policy. Mar2026, Vol. 64 Issue 1, p1-25. 25p.
Subject Terms: *Sociology of knowledge, *Emotions, Chernobyl Nuclear Accident, Chornobyl, Ukraine, 1986, Frames (Social sciences), Epistemics, Nuclear accidents, Narratology
Geographic Terms: Chornobyl (Ukraine)
People: Aleksievich, Svetlana, 1948-
Abstract: This article explores how nuclear disaster narratives have both been informed by and articulated collective images of risk and uncertainty since the 1980s. Drawing on ideas from classical and affective narratology that are framed by a perspective informed by the sociology of knowledge, we examine three variations of narrating nuclear disasters in different media: (1) sociologist Charles Perrow's detailed analysis of the Three Mile Island accident in his popular science book Normal Accidents (1984), (2) Svetlana Alexievich's Chernobyl Prayer (1997), a literary/journalistic account of the Chernobyl disaster that chronicles individuals' experiences through eyewitness accounts, and (3) the television series Chernobyl (2019), which, in a docufictional style, combines what is staged as an objective reconstruction of the unfolding of the disaster with subjective memories of those affected while reflecting on the incident's larger political, scientific, and environmental contexts. We suggest that these three stories of nuclear incidents not only produce specific knowledges about the disaster in question but also address the fragility of knowledge systems and social structures as well as assessments of agency. As such, these narratives function as sites of mitigation that offer their readers/viewers certainty in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning & Policy is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: This article explores how nuclear disaster narratives have both been informed by and articulated collective images of risk and uncertainty since the 1980s. Drawing on ideas from classical and affective narratology that are framed by a perspective informed by the sociology of knowledge, we examine three variations of narrating nuclear disasters in different media: (1) sociologist Charles Perrow's detailed analysis of the Three Mile Island accident in his popular science book Normal Accidents (1984), (2) Svetlana Alexievich's Chernobyl Prayer (1997), a literary/journalistic account of the Chernobyl disaster that chronicles individuals' experiences through eyewitness accounts, and (3) the television series Chernobyl (2019), which, in a docufictional style, combines what is staged as an objective reconstruction of the unfolding of the disaster with subjective memories of those affected while reflecting on the incident's larger political, scientific, and environmental contexts. We suggest that these three stories of nuclear incidents not only produce specific knowledges about the disaster in question but also address the fragility of knowledge systems and social structures as well as assessments of agency. As such, these narratives function as sites of mitigation that offer their readers/viewers certainty in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning & Policy is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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              Text: Mar2026
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