Languages of Trauma

History, Memory, and Media

Jason Crouthamel editor Julia Barbara Köhne editor Peter Leese editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:University of Toronto Press

Published:24th Mar '21

Should be back in stock very soon

Languages of Trauma cover

This volume traces the distinct cultural languages in which individual and collective forms of trauma are expressed in diverse variations, including oral and written narratives, literature, comic strips, photography, theatre, and cinematic images. The central argument is that traumatic memories are frequently beyond the sphere of medical, legal, or state intervention. To address these different, often intertwined modes of language, the contributors provide a variety of disciplinary approaches to foster innovative debates and provoke new insights.

Prevailing definitions of trauma can best be understood according to the cultural and historical conditions within which they exist. Languages of Trauma explores what this means in practice by scrutinizing varied historical moments from the First World War onwards and particular cultural contexts from across Europe, the United States, Asia, and Africa – striving to help decolonize the traditional Western-centred history of trauma, dissolving it into multifaceted transnational histories of trauma cultures.

"This collection significantly advances trauma studies, a field destined to continue to grow, expand its intellectual purchase and deepen the extent and complexity of its interdisciplinary reach."

-- Joy Porter, University of Hull * Social History of Medicine

ISBN: 9781487508968

Dimensions: 235mm x 159mm x 28mm

Weight: 700g

424 pages