Healing Echoes: Collective Trauma and Public Narratives in a Divided Homeland

Abstract

This article explores the transformative potential of public storytelling in healing collective trauma, drawing on the case study of the author’s mother, a Cypriot refugee’s experience following the 1974 Turkish invasion. It examines how the shift from private to public narration of traumatic memories can facilitate healing by creating a collective witness and enabling projective identification as a form of communication and psychological change. The study employs an autoethnographic approach, analyzing personal narratives and audience responses to public testimony. It argues that public storytelling allows for a reimagining of traumatic experiences, fostering a new, more resilient collective self, comprised of individual fragments. This process is likened to kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, symbolizing the potential for trauma survivors to emerge stronger through communal healing. The article engages with trauma theory, drawing on concepts like missing witnesses and collective selfhood, to elucidate the mechanisms of intergenerational trauma transmission and communal healing. It posits that public narration can transform personal trauma into historical trauma, creating a shared psychological framework that enhances group cohesion and preparedness against future threats. While acknowledging the limitations of generalizing from a single case study, this research contributes to the evolving discourse on trauma theory by highlighting the role of public narratives in trauma resolution. It suggests that focusing on present and future-oriented storytelling, rather than past-fixation, can promote resilience and adaptive coping strategies in post-conflict societies. The findings have implications for understanding the interplay between individual and collective trauma healing, offering insights into potential therapeutic approaches that harness the power of public testimony and communal support in addressing historical traumas.