Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning1

Abstract

Collective trauma is a cataclysmic event that disrupts the basic fabric of society. Beyond the horrific human toll, collective trauma is a crisis of meaning. This work systematically describes the process that begins with collective trauma, transforms into collective memory and culminates in a system of meaning, which allows the group to redefine its own identity and future orientations. In the case of victims, the memory of trauma may have an adaptive function in the process of survival, though, at the same time, it increases the existential threat, which determines the construction of a transgenerational collective "self." In the case of perpetrators, the memory of trauma may pose a threat to collective identity, the ways of overcoming of which are the denial of history, minimizing one's own guilt, changing the memory of the event, turning one's back on history or taking responsibility for it. Often, the admission of responsibility is followed by a rupture of identification with the group. However, the dissonance between, on the one hand, historical crimes and, on the other hand, the need to maintain a positive image of the group can be overcome in other ways. This incompatibility may determine the creation of a new narrative of the group, which recognizes the crime and thereby emphasizes the present positive action of the group. The definition of the meaning of trauma by both the victim and the perpetrator side is an ongoing process. Trauma is constantly discussed as being about the past both within groups, as well as between groups, though, at the same time, it contains the potential to create a basis for intergroup mutual understanding.