FINNISH AMERICAN IDENTITY AND STRATEGIES FOR ITS DETERMINATION IN FINNISH AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

The article focuses on one of the pressing problems of modern humanitarian knowledge - the problem of self-identification of hybrid cultures, in particular, the culture of the Finnish Americans. The ethnic diversity of the United States leads to a constant intersection of various cultures, giving rise to the uniqueness of contemporary American literary life. National, cultural, personal identity associated with the revision of the traditions that were assimilated in their diaspora acts as the main problem of multiculturalism - the ideology of plurality and diversity. Self-identification strategies may include the definition of one's religious, ethnic, gender determination. Very often, the community's collective trauma and collective memory of the historical past can act as a strategy. The main strategies of ethnic and cultural self-identification of Finnish American literature are represented by the collective memory, collective trauma, “Finnishness”, and the national Finnish epic “Kalevala”, which is used as a source of archetypal images and poetic imagination. Basing on a number of works by Finnish American writers of the second half of the 20 and 21 centuries in different genres (science fiction, historical novel, short stories), the article examines the creative application of the Finnish epic “Kalevala”, integrated into the experience of American existence as one of the main strategies for self-identification of its own culture, which is built on the dialogical interaction of the Anglo-Saxon and Finnish cultures. The article actualizes the problems of the interrelations of the two cultures, the transformation of archetypal images, the reflection of collective memory in the works of contemporary Finnish American writers.

Activist as Symptom: Healing Trauma within a Ruptured Collective

Animal activists serve as symptom-bearers for trans-species collective trauma within Western-industrial society. Findings from literature on traumatology and nonhuman animal activism, contemporary discourse, and the voices of ten activists currently in the field suggest that many animal activists suffer some form of trauma. Activist trauma arises through overlapping, complex relational processes of intersubjective attunement with nonhuman animals and embeddedness within a human social context that disavows nonhuman suffering. In understanding activist trauma as a symptom of a dysfunctional system, I depathologize activist suffering and view activists as integral members of a whole society that seeks healing.

Perspective Chapter: Fallout from the Pandemic—A Social and Psychological Description of COVID-19 Related Traumatic Sequelae

Pandemics are not new phenomena in human history but in a globalised and interconnected planet the differential impact upon each generation may be distinctive. The concept of trauma has been widely discussed over the last 18 months with emphasis on a collective stress and distress but also in respect of those who are vulnerable to psychological adversity because of established prior mental health diagnoses. Much debate has centred on the impact of the pandemic on mental illness, both new and established, and this chapter will examine the utility of interpreting the psychological outcome at individual and societal level through the lens of collective trauma. At risk populations, such as healthcare workers and those recovering from infection will be a special focus of this chapter.

Guest Editorial: Mass Atrocity and Collective Healing: New Possibilities for Regenerating Communities

This Special Issue brings together five articles from different disciplines. It aims to contribute to the emergent critical voices in research about collective trauma and collective healing by introducing novel perspectives and inviting further debates on the relevant issues evoked. For this reason, the Special Issue focuses on collective healing through a number of prisms. First, it delves into the notions of wounding and trauma, with a view to advance a well-argued theoretical framework for understanding collective healing. Second, it identifies underlying ethical pillars for collective healing, especially the principles of equality and well-being that affirm human dignity founded on our intrinsic non-instrumental value as persons. Third, it interrogates one of the deeply seated root causes of transatlantic slavery, and establishes a connection between capitalist expansion and systematic subjugation of human beings to brutal forces for the sake of materialistic production and wealth accumulation. Thus, this Special Issue attempts to survey historical dehumanisation in some of the mass atrocities, probe their continued legacies in contemporary societies in Africa, Europe, and the Americas, and highlight some of the political, psycho-social and grassroots approaches to collect healing in various contexts. In doing so, it further reflects on the conceptual, methodological and structural challenges involved when moving towards collective healing.

THE CONSTRUCT OF MORAL TRAUMA AND ITS CONCEPTUAL CONTENT

Purpose is to explore the concept of moral trauma, as well as to carry out a comparative analysis with relevant concepts of collective trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and traumatic stress.Methods. The study applies theoretical analysis of the literature and systematization of recent studies aligned with the concept of moral trauma, including of methods of analysis, synthesis, and generalization.Results. A review of the literature identifies key approaches to the interpretation of moral trauma concept in the context of military trauma research and research in the terms of morality and moral experiences.Conclusions. The main concept definitions, key characteristics, common and distinct conceptual features of the moral trauma, traumatic stress, PTSD and collective trauma concepts have been analyzed. The study reveals that moral trauma is often aligned with individual and collective context, while PTSD is always connected with individual trauma. Collective trauma often relates to historic trauma, trauma of identity and cultural trauma. The key difference of moral trauma in comparison with PTSD, collective trauma md and continuous traumatic stress is aligned with negative moral emotions, particularly feelings of guilt, shame, disgust, fear and anxiety. The traumatic stress concept covers physiological and psychological reactions of the body arising from security breaches and threats feelings, while moral trauma refers to damage of moral conscience and human values caused by subjective perception and experience in the individual backgrounds of the situation as traumatic.The results of theoretical analysis also indicate that moral trauma should be studied in the wider context of morality, namely moral standards, moral judgements, moral behaviour and moral emotions. Prospects for further research are the construct of moral trauma study in the context of the Psychology of Genocide as a collective and historical trauma, developing methodological basis for empirical research of moral trauma as a consequence of genocide.Key words: morality, moral trauma, PTSD, traumatic stress, collective trauma. Мета – дослідити поняття моральної травми, а також провести порівняльний аналіз із відповідними поняттями колективної травми, посттравматичного стресового розладу (ПТСР) та травматичного стресу.Методи. У дослідженні застосовується теоретичний аналіз літератури та систематизація досліджень останніх років, узгоджених із концепцією моральної травми, включно з методами аналізу, синтезу та узагальнення.Результати. Огляд літератури визначає ключові підходи до трактування концепції моральної травми в контексті досліджень військової травми з точки зору моралі та морального досвіду.Висновки. Проаналізовано визначення основних понять, ключові характеристики, загальні та чіткі концептуальні ознаки моральної травми, травматичного стресу, посттравматичного стресового розладу та концепції колективної травми. Дослідження показує, що моральна травма часто узгоджується з індивідуальним та колективним контекстом, тоді як посттравматичний стресовий розлад завжди пов’язаний з індивідуальною травмою. Колективна травма часто пов’язана з історичною травмою, травмою ідентичності та культурною травмою. Ключова відмінність моральної травми порівняно з посттравматичним стресовим розладом, колективною травмою та постійним травматичним стресом узгоджується з негативними моральними емоціями, зокрема почуттям провини, сорому, огиди, страху та тривоги.Поняття травматичного стресу охоплює фізіологічні та психологічні реакції організму, що виникають через відчуття порушення безпеки та загрози, тоді як моральна травма стосується ушкоджень моральної совісті та цінностей людини, спричинених суб’єктивним сприйняттям та переживанням в індивідуальному досвіді ситуації як травматичної.Результати теоретичного аналізу також указують на те, що моральну травму слід вивчати у ширшому контексті моралі, а саме через моральні стандарти, моральні судження, моральну поведінку та моральні емоції. Перспективами подальших досліджень є вивчення конструкту моральної травми в контексті психології геноциду як колективної та історичної травми, що становить методологічну основу емпіричного дослідження моральної травми як наслідку геноциду.Ключові слова: мораль, моральна травма, ПТСР, травматичний стрес, колективна травма.

Sensemaking Processes during the First Months of COVID-19 Pandemic: Using Diaries to Deepen How Italian Youths Experienced Lockdown Measures

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about disruptive changes in individuals’ lives, breaking the established systems of meaning worldwide. Indeed, in the first months of the pandemic, with individuals being forced to stay at home for a prolonged time to contain the spread of the virus, the need to build new meanings to understand and face this crisis emerged. Building on this, the present study contributes to the understanding of how sensemaking processes were shaped in the face of COVID-19 collective trauma during the very first months of the pandemic. Hence, 36 Italian young adults aged between 21 and 25 submitted daily diary entries for two weeks (T1 was the third week of Italian National lockdown; T2 was the penultimate week before the ease of such stay-at-home orders), resulting in 504 texts. The stimulus was always “Could you describe your daily experience and feelings?”. The Grounded Theory was used. Thus, 15 categories emerged, grouped into three macro-categories. The core category was sensemaking as adaptation. Indeed, the sensemaking process seemed to be a strategy to adapt to the new circumstances related to the lockdown, facing the emotional, cognitive, and activation reactions such conditions by relying on coping strategies and the redefinition of primary as well as broader social relationships.