Responding to disaster : applying the lens of social memory

Communities respond to disasters in different ways, depending to a large extent on the stories and narratives associated with their particular social memories. How the social memory of Theodore, a small rural Queensland town, influenced the recovery of this community is explored in this paper. The narrative associated with the ‘bush character’ forms the basis of much of this social memory, and while there are positives and weaknesses associated with this characterisation, it is argued that this contributes to the social resilience of the town in the wake of adverse events, including natural disasters.