A crisis can be defined as a situation involving fundamental threat. However, the concept of crisis can associate with vast degrees of semantic significance according to the distinctive language and discipline context.
Reinhart Koselleck suggests the concept of crisis ‘remains as multi-layered and ambiguous'(1). Koselleck further proposed three primary conceptions of crisis approaching from different disciplines. Crisis in the medical sense emphasis the notion of it as a turning point. This is supported by various medical terms, such as hypertensive crisis, aplastic crisis, identity crisis, etc., where each represents an established change of situation in the human body. Concurrently crisis in economics refers to both acute destructions and ongoing breakdowns of a certain system. Examples of such representations of crisis are evident in the descriptions of the 2008 financial crisis and the ongoing economic crisis due to the impact of Covid 19, which demonstrates an established and an ongoing breakdown of various economical systems worldwide (2). Lastly, from a theology standpoint crises are concerned with eschatological significance and present the conception of permanent transfiguration. Because of the eschatological significance in theology crisis, the concept of theology crisis often aligns itself with the representation within religions. A crisis arises in the bible whenever a man is confronted by God (3) with possible judgment to be made. The Last Judgement from the bible is an example of theology as it correlated with the world or eternity of life after death, where the permanent transfiguration is presenting fundamental aspects of an eschatological concept (4).
Another way to look at the ambiguous characteristics of the concept of crisis is through comparisons of the definitions of crisis in different languages. For example, in classical Greek, krino which is the foundation of the word krisis or crisis in classical Greek refers to the idea of the action of separation, judgment, or decision. The concept of crisis in Greek is highly used in politics and correlates with the notion of decision-making in the sense of reaching a verdict or reaching a crucial transition point. (5) While in Chinese, crisis or 危机（wei ji） takes into account two concepts. One is the concept of crisis as a situation where there is a hidden danger. The other refers to the concept of an important life-changing turning point. (6) While the first concept relies upon the first character of 危(Wei) which correlates deeply with the conception of danger and precarious(7), the second relates more to the second character 机(Ji)which correlates with the notion of chance, transition, or opportunity(8). On the other side, in Japanese 危機（kiki）, relates to the concept of ongoing risks, destructions that were unexpected and cannot be resolved by method from past experience (9). Although most kanji characters in Japanese are adapted from Chinese, sometimes the same combination of characters might create different concepts. In the case of the word crisis in Japanese, it differentiates from Chinese in the sense that it is highly correlated with the notion of 危機管理（crisis management）which was first used during the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in 1995(10). Such correlation deeply relates to the current definition of crisis in Japanese as at the time the earthquake was still ongoing and the scale in addition to the urban location of the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake meant methods of encountering the earthquake from the past will be ineffective in the situation. So the concept of crisis in japan correlates with more the notion of uncertainty rather than opportunity or transition in comparison to the concept of crisis in other languages.
Although there might be defined characteristics of a crisis in the modern world today the concept of the crisis still remains ambiguous due to the different perceptions context and language it is used in.
References
(1) Runiciman,D (2016), “What Time Frame Makes Sense for Thinking about Crises?”, Critical Theories of Crisis in Europe pp3 – 16 https://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/3349471/mod_resource/content/1/critical_theories.pdf
(2)Sogani, A (2020), “The Great Lockdown vs The Great Depression and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis”, E- International Relations, https://www.e-ir.info/2020/07/02/the-great-lockdown-vs-the-great-depression-and-the-2008-global-financial-crisis/
(3) Fischer, P. (1964). “THEOLOGY OF CRISIS IN PERSPECTIVE”. The Centennial Review, 8(2), 216-227. Retrieved February 25, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23737913
(4) KORNER, A; (2011) “The Experience of Time as Crisis. On Croce’s and Benjamin’s Concept of History.” Intellectual History Review , 21 (2) 151 – 169. Downloaded from UCL Discovery: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1321530
(5)Kosellect. R and Richter .M .R 2006, “Crisis,” Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol.67 No.2 pp357 -400, University of Pennsylvania Press https://www.jstor.org/stable/30141882
(6) Weiji, Qian pian Hanyu dictionary, https://cidian.qianp.com/ci/危机
(7) wei, Handian dictionary, https://www.zdic.net/hans/危
(8) ji, Handian dictionary, https://www.zdic.net/hans/机
(9) kiki, Weblio dictionary, https://www.weblio.jp/content/危機
(10)Hirasawa. A, n.d, Chuo online https://yab.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/chuo/opinion/20121217.html