Page 276 - Lazar, Irena, Aleksander Panjek in Jonatan Vinkler. Ur. 2020. Mikro in makro. Pristopi in prispevki k humanističnim vedam ob dvajsetletnici UP Fakultete za humanistične študije, 1. knjiga. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem
P. 276
mikro in makro: pr istopi in pr ispevki k humanističnim vedam ob dvajsetletnici up fhš
on the ethnological field, while considered in psychotherapy an entry point
into the intrapsychic world of people.
The authors analyse the causes for silence in the ethnological research
of memories of the Istrian "exodus" and other memories of traumatic war
and post-war times in the region of Primorska. We must be conscious of
the fact that silence does not only indicate the absence of words or voice but
can also be recognized in the interlocutor’s body language.
From a sociological perspective, the cause of silence often derives from
the incompatibility between individual and collective memories. This is
certainly the case of memories of Italians who "remained" in Yugoslavia af-
ter the "Istrian exodus", which do not correspond to the dominant Slovene
memory about the voluntary departure of Italians. Talking about the "ex-
odus" was deemed a taboo until the democratization of the Yugoslav soci-
ety, although the silence about it can still be traced today. Silence can also
be a consequence of a general public's failure to acknowledge the historical
truth of a traumatic event that caused suffering to those affected. It is also a
question of the dichotomy between losers and winners, with the latter not
recognizing the losers' right to mourn. There is also the silence of those who
have used the crisis for their own progress on the social scale. Silence can
frequently be also a result of emotionally charged memories that people try
to suppress in order to protect themselves from post-traumatic pain.
The intergenerational transmission of emotional traumas frequent-
ly occurs precisely through unconscious embodied memory, which – in
contrast to expert psychotherapists – is difficult to detect for ethnologists.
Psychological pain which is deeply buried in the human psyche and reflect-
ed in the body is precisely the feature that is crucial for psychotherapists in
unearthing a person’s traumas, including intergenerational ones. Silence is
related to the dynamics of trauma, which completely dominates the con-
duct of life of the traumatized person. Frequent traumas at both individu-
al and collective level often derive from a perpetrator-victim relationship,
where the victim is linked to fear and deprived of human dignity, while the
perpetrator is linked to feelings of guilt and shame, leading both of them
to avoid to speak.
The article indicates the different social and psychological aspects of
individual and collective silence. It breaks new ground in an interdiscipli-
nary understanding of people and human society, calling for a more inte-
grative approach that goes beyond the boundaries of singular disciplines.
274
on the ethnological field, while considered in psychotherapy an entry point
into the intrapsychic world of people.
The authors analyse the causes for silence in the ethnological research
of memories of the Istrian "exodus" and other memories of traumatic war
and post-war times in the region of Primorska. We must be conscious of
the fact that silence does not only indicate the absence of words or voice but
can also be recognized in the interlocutor’s body language.
From a sociological perspective, the cause of silence often derives from
the incompatibility between individual and collective memories. This is
certainly the case of memories of Italians who "remained" in Yugoslavia af-
ter the "Istrian exodus", which do not correspond to the dominant Slovene
memory about the voluntary departure of Italians. Talking about the "ex-
odus" was deemed a taboo until the democratization of the Yugoslav soci-
ety, although the silence about it can still be traced today. Silence can also
be a consequence of a general public's failure to acknowledge the historical
truth of a traumatic event that caused suffering to those affected. It is also a
question of the dichotomy between losers and winners, with the latter not
recognizing the losers' right to mourn. There is also the silence of those who
have used the crisis for their own progress on the social scale. Silence can
frequently be also a result of emotionally charged memories that people try
to suppress in order to protect themselves from post-traumatic pain.
The intergenerational transmission of emotional traumas frequent-
ly occurs precisely through unconscious embodied memory, which – in
contrast to expert psychotherapists – is difficult to detect for ethnologists.
Psychological pain which is deeply buried in the human psyche and reflect-
ed in the body is precisely the feature that is crucial for psychotherapists in
unearthing a person’s traumas, including intergenerational ones. Silence is
related to the dynamics of trauma, which completely dominates the con-
duct of life of the traumatized person. Frequent traumas at both individu-
al and collective level often derive from a perpetrator-victim relationship,
where the victim is linked to fear and deprived of human dignity, while the
perpetrator is linked to feelings of guilt and shame, leading both of them
to avoid to speak.
The article indicates the different social and psychological aspects of
individual and collective silence. It breaks new ground in an interdiscipli-
nary understanding of people and human society, calling for a more inte-
grative approach that goes beyond the boundaries of singular disciplines.
274
