Birthplaces of Our Fear: Reception of Yuri Dud’s Documentary “Kolyma” in Social Media

The article examines reception of the online documentary "Kolyma — the birthplace of our fear" (produced by journalist Yuri Dud in 2019) in social networks. In their comments, internet users regard other topics along with the Soviet repressions, to which the film is dedicated. They discuss the traumatic experience of the recent past, namely the late Soviet period, the collapse of the USSR, the 1990s, and contemporary problems. As a result of analysis of YouTube comments, we identify two trauma narratives. The first narrative is based on the idea of violation of civil human rights, the second focuses on the violation of socio-economic rights. Different topics appear in comments and posts on social media depending on which rights viewers consider key and which they pay more attention to when watching the documentary. In the case of civil rights, these include contemporary political repressions in Russia, names of famous political prisoners, references to recent protests. In the case of socio-economic rights, these topics include privatization, oligarchs, economic reforms, inequality. Those users who comment about the violation of socio-economic rights generally express a positive attitude towards the USSR and a critical attitude towards capitalism. Topics such as corruption or the problems of the penitentiary system in Russia are “inbetween” — they are important symbols in both narratives. The study clarifies how the cultural trauma narrative of the recent past and present-day events is formed. We also demonstrate how this process takes place on social media, and how social media enables participation of ordinary users and not only public figures.

Collaboration and Connection

Juvenilia scholarship typically privileges a lone child author writing without adult intervention. This essay explores questions about intergenerational authorship and juvenilia through a focus on Homes: A Refugee Story, a work of “creative non-fiction” produced through the collaboration of Abu Bakr al Rabeeah and his former teacher Winnie Yeung. Homes chronicles the experience of al Rabeeah in Syria prior to his emigration with his family to Canada as a young teen. The essay authors draw on a joint interview they conducted with al Rabeeah and Yeung, who characterized their mode of collaborating as one between the young “storyteller” and adult “writer,” and discussed how they negotiated their roles in light of questions regarding agency, privacy, ethics, and trauma. The essay concludes by suggesting that fluid definitions of child writing and child agency may be particularly important when it comes to trauma narratives.

Posthumanist trauma: An intrasectional approach to accountable determinacy in current North American narrative

How can we deal with trauma in a posthuman world? The 9th of September 2001 will be remembered as the day the world changed. The turn of the century in the Western world was signaled by this national trauma, but also by a change in the humanist paradigm that very much conditioned the way in which such trauma was experienced and represented. This article explores this intersection in the works of Thomas Pynchon and Art Spiegelman as they struggle to account for 9/11 through two trauma narratives that signal a matching change in aesthetic approach. Its methodological innovation lies in the application of Karen Barad’s concept of “intra-action” to the humanities.

The Silence of Compliance: Child Soldier Trauma Narratives in Contemporary African War Novels

The victimhood of child soldiers is without any argument, a fact. In many wars, the illegitimate conscription of children under the age of eighteen has resulted in severe repercussions in the mental health of the child soldiers even after the war. Child soldier trauma depicted through many literary artifacts shows the intensity and gravity of the situation. The novels by Uzodinma Iweala, Chris Abani, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie viz Beasts of No Nation, Song for Night and Half of a Yellow Sun address the issue of child soldier conscription, the resultant trauma, and the slim chances of the betterment of the children even after the war is over. The paper moves toward acknowledging the victimhood of these children but at the same raising concerns about the agency of the trauma. The role of the child soldiers as perpetrators beyond their status of being victims and the necessity to provide proper psychosocio care to avert trauma and impending disorder in the society. A new approach concerning the grey area of in-betweenness in the victim/victimiser binary is needed while analysing desperate times like that of the Biafran civil war.

Understanding therapists’ perceived determinants of trauma narrative use

Background Trauma narratives are a critical, exposure-based component of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy, yet community therapists rarely use them. Given evidence that intentions to deliver elements of cognitive behavioral therapy vary by component, and that intentions to deliver exposure are the weakest, this study focused specifically on trauma narratives. We drew on a social psychology causal theory (Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)) and an implementation science framework (the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR)) to glean insight into multilevel influences on trauma narrative use. While the CFIR offers a broad list of factors potentially affecting implementation, the TPB offers causal pathways between individual-level constructs that predict behavior, including the uptake of an evidence-based intervention. The integration of these approaches may provide a more complete understanding of factors affecting therapists’ use of TNs. Methods Therapists (n=65) trained in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy completed a survey about their use of and beliefs about trauma narratives. Content analysis was used to identify common beliefs about trauma narratives. A subset of participants (n=17) completed follow-up qualitative interviews, which were analyzed using an integrated approach informed by the CFIR. Results While most participants reported high intentions to use TNs, nearly half reported that they did not use TNs in the last 6 months. Survey data indicate a number of TPB-related determinants related to using trauma narratives. Qualitative interviews identified CFIR-relevant contextual factors that may influence constructs central to TPB. Conclusions These results highlight the importance of integrating approaches that address multiple theoretical determinants of therapist behavior, including therapist, organizational, and client factors with causal explanations to explain implementation behavior.

Shifting Narratives, Recognizing Resilience: New Anti-Oppressive and Decolonial Approaches to Ethnobotanical Research with Indigenous Communities in Canada

Revitalizing Indigenous land-based practices are acts of resurgence and resistance. The presence of Indigenous bodies occupying land to nourish and strengthen themselves through ancestral practices is a political act. These cultural systems of knowledge and practice are in opposition to historical and ongoing colonial attempts to dispossess Indigenous Peoples of their connections to land. Indigenous People have undergone changes in diet and land access, including cultivating and harvesting plants for health and wellbeing. Recognizing and understanding the impacts and implications of colonization on land-based knowledge is fundamental in carrying out meaningful work within Indigenous communities in the field of ethnobotany. Much of the literature and media on Indigenous issues continue to uphold trauma narratives. When working with Indigenous communities on projects, it is essential to understand the history, impacts and ongoing struggles related to colonization and genocide in America in order to not cause harm and to contribute positively to those communities. Furthermore, by taking our responsibilities one step further, we can carry out research in trauma-informed ways while prioritizing anti-oppressive, decolonial and strength-based approaches to our research and collaborations with Indigenous communities. We illustrate these points through a community-based case study from the Squamish Nation in British Columbia, Canada.

Whāia Te Mauriora - In Pursuit of Healing: Theorising connections between soul healing, tribal self-determination and Māori suicide prevention in Aotearoa / New Zealand

<p>Māori suicide is theorised as an outcome of the wounding of the indigenous spirit as a result of complex trauma birthed during colonisation. The spirit is theorised as the place where trauma and suffering take root in whakapapa (kinship). Whakapapa is theorised as the mechanism by which spiritual affliction is transferred inter-generationally manifesting in physical outcomes within and between generations. Māori suicide is interpreted as the physical manifestation of spiritual wounds and spiritual wounding requires responses that ameliorate and heal spiritual suffering at the source. Therapies for soul healing are framed in context of indigenous self determination. This creates space to privilege healing traditions housed within cultural worldviews, practices and knowledge(s). This assumes an ability to reclaim traditional healing knowledge that works at a spiritual level. Whakapapa is theorised as the pathway by which profound healing of the wounded spirit can be achieved. In this research, connection to whakapapa and a full consciousness of the divine (mauri) inside all indigenous peoples that connects us with each other provides a source of healing of the spirit through balancing the spiritual and physical elements of human existence. In order to test the relationship between historical trauma and the outcomes of spiritual suffering 182 years of history were researched in one discrete tribal group. Using whānau narratives three major trauma acts were identified. The whānau identified historical trauma as having contemporary outcomes and consequences for whakapapa/kinship relationships. They found the analysis of historical trauma to be empowering, bringing forth revelation knowledge and explaining inter-generational suffering. The explanatory power of historical trauma/soul and spiritual wounding made sense to them experientially, intuitively and intellectually. This PhD recommends healing methods (and pathways) for indigenous professionals and para-professionals working with extensive trauma in their communities. Trauma narratives are reframed as imperatives and opportunities for spiritual/soul healing.</p>