Anthropological Approach to Vulnerability and Major Hazards - Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation - page 275

In this case study, the interpretative frameworks diverge so far as
to be inverted, depending on what structures human milieux, and the
regimes of historicity that are engaged. Brutal and sudden (of an
eruptive type) or slow and progressive (the type of cultural crisis that
the Ambrymais confronted), the hermeneutics of the transformations
present a broad spectrum. Depending on the temporality mobilized,
the eruption can appear to be a destructive or saving phenomenon,
catastrophic or epic, natural or technical. The regimes of temporality
in which the actors find themselves mean that a single phenomenon
can (1) be integrated in the dynamic of a strategy or (2) emerge after a
phase of amazement as something radically uncontrolled, disastrous
and undesirable.

At Ambrym in 1913, the protagonists had recourse to two narrative
frameworks. Some of the accounts - those of the settlers - hinged
upon the volcanic activity, and others - those of the Ambrymais -
were linked to the sociocultural impacts of the Presbyterian missions.
The eruption of the volcano is concomitant with the irruption of
strangers on the island. There was not one event, but two. They
simultaneously relate to a syndrome, that is to say a moment where -
a minima - two frameworks for structuring the experience came to
harm, where several milieux are disturbed and lead the collective that
inhabit them to react in their specific way.

The population present in Ambrym in 1913 can be divided into two
distinct categories of interpretations. The point of view of the settlers
expresses a catastrophic volcanic eruption that put an end to a
civilizing mission. The point of view of the natives tells the story of a
desired eruption that put an end to a colonization perceived as
profoundly destructuring. Table 7.1 summarizes the situation.

Event

Volcanic eruption
(December 1913)

Colonization
(1881-1913)

Population

Settlers Catastrophe Civilizing strategy

Ambrymais Expulsion strategy Catastrophe

Table 7.1. Ambrym, 1913: assymetry of the predicative regimes