Making Sense of Disaster Through Rhetorical Homologies: Extending Walter Benjamin’s Unique/Copy Binary to Post-Katrina Tours

Abstract

Over a decade after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, publics continue to come to terms with the tragedy. Isabelle Cossart, owner of “Tours by Isabelle” and survivor of the hurricane, began offering disaster tours of the affected areas after taking note of people’s desire to see the damage and contemplate its effects. Public accounts of Cossart’s business suggest that people make sense of disasters symbolically via tourism. Cossart’s post-Katrina disaster tours belong to a wider form concerning disastrous events springing from anxiety over how to respond, followed by agency-driven strategies for coping. This discursive dichotomy of disaster/agency is grounded in a homologous discourse of uniqueness versus copy in Walter Benjamin’s essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Through publicly available information on “Tours by Isabelle,” this article compares subcategories of disaster, Cossart’s tours, and works of art, and explores how people make sense of disaster symbolically.

Keywords:

• Disaster Tourism
• Hurricane Katrina
• Rhetorical Homologies
• Walter Benjamin

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Barry Brummett, Samuel Gladden, Taleen Washington, Pamela Lannutti, and the anonymous reviewers for their generous feedback.

Notes

[1] Cossart has noted that she began these tours in response to an urgent consumer demand: “For the past 10 years, the job has included sharing some of the darkest moments in Louisiana’s history. In the fall of 2005, the demand for tours showing the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina became impossible to ignore. It was the only thing customers asked for” (Cossart, 2015).

[2] Brummett (2006) used the unique/copy binary in his essay, “Rhetorical Homologies in Walter Benjamin, The Ring, and Capital.” I am adopting the binary for this study in a new context.

[3] Before 2004, communication scholars used the term “homology” to describe the methodological approach of formal comparison. After the publication of Brummett’s monograph, Rhetorical Homologies: Form, Culture, Experience (Brummett, 2004), scholars have adopted “rhetorical homologies” to describe this method of rhetorical criticism.

[4] Burke (1968) defined form as “an arousing and fulfillment of desires,” a process that leads readers of a literary work to expect something and be gratified upon receipt (Burke, 1968, p. 124). The more difficult the process, the more gratification obtained (Burke, 1968, p. 31). In reference to Burke’s definition, Lindquist (2008) noted that audiences would find literary stories appealing, for example, if they had corresponding experiences outside of the work.

[5] See Bowen and Bannon (in press) regarding information about a Katrina tour, led by Gray Line Tours, found on YouTube, stating that their guides use a script created by the company that promises a positive and encouraging view of the disaster.