Abstract:

Studies on disaster memory has largely focused on narrative construction, often at the expense of the experiential reality of disaster itself. As memory becomes increasingly mediated through discourse, its material grounding is obscured, leading to processes of erosion and attenuation. In response, this study advances an analytical perspective that re-centers the materiality of meaning, seeking to bring the tangible foundations of memory back. This study examines a private museum dedicated to commemorating the Wenchuan earthquake, focusing on how its practices transform local, mundane objects into carriers of national and collective remembrance. Drawing on the Strong Program in cultural sociology, particularly the "icon theory", the analysis develops an "authentic and aesthetic" framework to investigate how disaster artifacts acquire iconic power through the interplay between their material appearances and their deeper meanings. The findings show that by directly incorporating everyday objects from disaster-stricken areas into their exhibitions, museums, on the one hand, restore the symbolic meanings of disaster memory to the complexity and reality of everyday life. On the other hand, the destruction and trauma captured in material form give rise to aesthetic experiences imbued with moral significance. In this way, exhibited objects preserve the experiential texture of disaster while becoming materially grounded "totems" that crystallize collective consciousness. More broadly, this study argues that the durability of collective memory depends on material forms capable of directly embodying moral sentiments, rather than on fluid discursive narratives alone. By foregrounding materiality, it shows how local commemorative practices supplement dominant narrative frameworks through irreducible material experience, thereby sustaining collective disaster memory.

Key words: disaster memory, materiality, collective consciousness, cultural trauma