Research ProgramsTwo registers, one requirement

The forthcoming works proceed from continuous research, organized into long thematic and chronological cycles. Two registers coexist, distinct in their ambition and their publishing structure: an international comparative history, destined for Fire & Memory Editions and published in French, English, and German; and a heritage research anchored in the Indian Ocean, carried by the institutions that safeguard heritage. A single method governs both: priority to primary sources, refusal of anachronism, each event set back within its social, political, and technical environment.

International comparative history

Transatlantic Cycle (nineteenth century)

Scope: United States (New York, Charleston) / Europe.
Subject: A comparison of urban models and fire cultures in the industrial age — from volunteerism to professionalization.
Sources: Municipal archives, press, companies’ annual reports.
Status: Writing and consolidation.
Publisher: Fire & Memory Editions.

Germanic Cycle

Scope: German states, Bavaria.
Subject: A study of the technical culture of fire in Central Europe — discipline, equipment, municipal authority — and a comparative analysis with the Anglo-American models.
Sources: Municipal archives and by-laws of the German states, period press and association publications, German-language sources.
Academic grounding: This cycle is grounded in doctoral research in history, conducted at the Centre de recherches pluridisciplinaires multilingues (CRPM), Université Paris Nanterre, under the supervision of Pascale Cohen-Avenel.
Status: Documentary research.
Publisher: Fire & Memory Editions.

Heritage research — Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean Cycle

Scope: Réunion, Mauritius, neighboring archipelagos.
Subject: Local histories and biographies considered as revealers of social and colonial structures.
Sources: Local archives, press, collected testimonies, association and museum holdings.
Status: Exploration, with English translations under way (Tenir sa place, Hugues Gigant).
Publisher: Association des Amis du Musée des Sapeurs-Pompiers de La Réunion et de l’Océan Indien.

Narrative Non-Fiction Projects

Distinct from the historical cycles, these narratives apply the documentary method to a contemporary event.

Tresta Star

Subject: A reconstruction of a sea rescue off Réunion, grounded in the sources and the actors of the operation.
Language: Simultaneous French and English publication, for an international readership.
Status: Writing.
Publisher: Fire & Memory Editions.

Publishing logic

Works arising from these programs appear in the catalogue only once published. Each finds its publishing structure according to its nature: international research and narrative for Fire & Memory Editions, local heritage for the associative and partnership publications.

Collaborations and partnerships

These programs are open to collaboration: access to archival holdings, editorial partnerships, translation, research support. Interested institutions, publishers, and researchers may write to contact@fireandmemory.com.