Storm Stories: Environmental Trauma and Literary Memory in the Wake of Cyclone Freddy in Malawi

This research explores the intricate intersections of literature, trauma, and the environment through the lens of Cyclone Freddy—one of the longest-lasting and most devastating tropical cyclones in Sub-Saharan Africa’s recorded history. Positioned at the crossroads of environmental humanities and trauma studies, the project investigates how environmental disasters like Cyclone Freddy are represented, remembered, and narrated within literary and cultural texts. By treating Cyclone Freddy as both a case study and a point of departure, the study seeks to understand the narrative strategies employed to grapple with ecological catastrophe and collective trauma, particularly within affected communities in the Global South. Drawing on a range of texts—including fiction, music, poetry, oral histories, and media narratives—the research interrogates how environmental trauma is encoded in language, shaped by cultural memory, and transmitted across temporal and spatial boundaries. It considers how these narratives engage with issues of vulnerability, resilience, ecological justice, and the socio-political dimensions of climate change. Central to the project is an examination of how literature mediates the experience of disaster, offering both a space for mourning and a means of resistance against the erasure of marginalised voices. Ultimately, this study aims to contribute to a broader understanding of the role of narrative in constructing environmental memory and responding to trauma. It will also highlight the ways in which literature can serve as a vital tool for environmental advocacy, ethical reflection, and communal healing in the face of climate-induced calamities.