PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVES ON HISTORICAL TRAUMA

Abstract

The paper presents a psychoanalytic perspective on historical trauma, presenting the most important psychoanalytic concepts and theories on historical trauma, which are also relevant for the Republic of Moldova. In conceptual-theoretical aspect, psychoanalytic approaches that have clarified the phenomenon of historical trauma are presented, and collective traumas of the 20th century are invoked. Similarly, psychoanalytic hypotheses are presented on the human-relational factor in the construction of historical trauma, but also in the mentalization of trauma and in ensuring the process of reconciliation. On the empirical side, results are presented on the research of the traumatic memory of the deportations in the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, emphasizing how the actual collective traumas influence the representations of the deportation trauma. The presented results are part of a qualitative research approach, which involved qualitative content analysis of data obtained from interviews with different categories of respondents: deportees, descendants of deportees, researchers involved in historical trauma research projects. The results of the research highlight the conscious and unconscious dynamics of historical trauma, relational and narcissistic valences in deportation trauma and the actualization of traumatic themes related to deportations in the context of current military conflicts. The results of the research are corroborated with psychoanalytic concepts that can be used for the prevention of historical traumas and for individual and collective recovery in the case of historical traumas.