Religious modeling of a natural disaster: a cultural semiotic study

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between disaster and religion by exploring three main questions: how religion shapes the interpretation of disasters and the subsequent recovery processes; how disasters transform religious practices; and how religious interpretations may coexist with scientific explanations of the same disaster. By focusing on the Aceh society’s experience after the 2004 tsunami, this paper argues that Islam, which serves as the central modeling system of Aceh culture, played two interconnected roles in the post-tsunami period: one of providing explanations for the inexplicable disaster and the other of guiding the ensuing actions. Furthermore, the tsunami had a significant impact on the practice of Islam in Aceh, as demonstrated by the shift toward the Sharia system to create a more Islamic Aceh society in the future. This phenomenon thus serves as an example of an explosive change in a semiosphere, as explained by Juri Lotman. This paper also identifies the coexistence of religious and scientific interpretations of the tsunami among the Acehnese, highlighting their distinct social functions.