Massive Traumas at the hand of “Others”

 

Volkan, VD. Traumas masivos causados por los “otros”: Problemas de identitad en grandes grupos, transmisión generacional, “traumas elegidos” y sus consecuencias. (Massive Traumas at the hand of “Others”: Large-group Identity issues, transgenerational transmissions, “Chosen Traumas” and their consequences). Los Laberintos de la Violencia, ed. Leticia Glocer Fioroni, pp.153-172. Buenos Aires: Lugar Editorial.

This paper studies specific societal processes that are put in motion within the victimized society following a massive trauma at the hand of “Others,” processes that nurture the development of “chosen traumas.” A chosen trauma refers to the shared mental representation of a traumatic historical event that is a significant large-group identity marker. Under certain circumstances political leaders may reactivate a chosen trauma through propaganda and hate speeches that inflame followers’ shared feelings about themselves and their enemy.

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