When exploring trauma theory as a potential theoretical framework for a study, it is in the first place necessary to understand what trauma is and what it entails.
The field of trauma studies is vast as different disciplines take part in the discussion. This also applies to the ways the term “trauma” is defined. The word τραύμα in modern Greek means “wound” as it
refers to the piercing of skin.36 Sigmund Freud employs the word metaphorically to show how the
suffering because of the perception of the event and whether the symptoms of the experience persists and comes back to haunt the person.
36 Although the term “trauma” was only starting to feature in the late 19th century, people in antiquity used
similar words to describe their experiences. Cirero, who lived 106 – 43 BCE, argues that Latin distinguishes between the words “toil” (λαβορ) and “pain” (δολορ). Ancient Greek has five words that are associated with pain namely ἀλγος, λυπη, ὀδυνη, παθος and πονος. Where the key definition of these words are “pain”, in some instances, each word can be translated as “mental pain,” “suffering,” “grief,” or “toil”, as Cicero also notes. With Ancient Greek, the definition of the words is ambiguous and dependent on the context, whilst Latin only have two main words for pain (Wilson, 2013: 129–130). Menachem Ben-Ezra (2011: 224–225), a professor in social work at Ariel University, states that evidence of trauma in antiquity is quite rare. This is firstly because of a number of manuscripts that were destroyed or lost during the course of time – leaving only fragments of traumatic experiences in antiquity. Secondly, because most medical texts mostly addressed depressive and anxiety disorders, not necessarily psychological trauma. Many documents portraying
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mind can also be pierced and wounded by events that cause trauma (Caruth, 1996: 3; Garland, 2002: 9). Cathy Caruth, a professor at Cornell University in English and Comparative studies, proposes that the phenomenon of trauma appears to be more than pathology or an illness of the wreaked soul. It is the narrative of a wound that calls out, that tells of a reality or truth that is otherwise unspeakable. This truth cannot only be connected to what is recognised, but also to that which stays unidentified in actions and language (Caruth, 1996: 4).
Because of the interdisciplinary nature of trauma theory, there are many ways in which trauma and trauma theory can be defined. In my search for definitions of trauma, I explored works of a number of scholars in different fields. I consider the definitions stated below as the most helpful ones.
O’Connor (2011: 2) defines “trauma” as the violence that injury imposes, not the injury itself. She further says that to be traumatised is to receive a setback, or to become a victim of unexpected or recurring assaults. It may be physical or emotional. Carr (2014: 7) defines the concept of “trauma” as “an overwhelming, haunting experience of disaster so explosive in its impact that it cannot be directly encountered, and influences an individual’s or group’s behaviour and memory in indirect ways.” Rosenberg (2014: 31) also suggests that trauma is equal to events that cause suffering, cognitive dysfunction and emotional and behavioural instabilities.
O’Connor further states that the experience of trauma influences and distorts what people think, feel and believe. Victims of trauma may have fragmented memories of the cause of the trauma. It overpowers the senses, to the extent that it cannot be absorbed. Trauma breaks down language, as people cannot find the words to describe their trauma. Trauma also numbs people – it shatters emotional reaction. People shut down in order to survive the trauma. Trauma further influences victims’ belief in God. Suffering and trauma impact people’s relationship with God, God images, experiences of faith and trust in God. Many people lose their faith because they have experienced God as absent during the disaster that hit them. Others grow closer to God because of their traumatic experience (O’Connor, 2011: 23–26).37
psychological trauma in antiquity are based on religious, historical and literary texts that portray both mythical and historical events. Examples of descriptions of trauma in ancient Greece and Rome may be seen in the epic poems of Iliad and Odyssey by Homer (850 BCE), the battle of Marathon as described by Herodotus (490 BCE), the account of the battle of Cunaxa by Xenophon (401 BCE), and reactions on the natural disaster caused by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD by Pliny the younger (Ben-Ezra, 2011: 227–230).
37 Daniël Louw discusses this notion further in his book Cura Vitae. When people experience painful events,
certain concepts and images of God surface above others. “Needs and frustrations are projected onto God. For example, God may be seen as a tyrant after an experience of injustice; as a bully because of anger and frustration; as a spoilsport after disappointment; as Father Christmas or an insurance agent because of the notion that God is a guarantee against disaster and loss. The pastoral model for the development of a mature faith is closely connected to a theology of the cross … and a theology of resurrection … This means that God is not only identified with suffering. In the resurrection God is active in overcoming suffering” (Louw, 2008: 95). Lisa Cataldo suggests that the God of the trauma survivor can take many forms: “God can be experienced simultaneously as the cause of the trauma, the saviour from it, the passive bystander, or the just punisher, in relation to whom the survivor’s split-off selves maintain conflicting positions of innocence and guilt, hope and
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Rambo (2010: 4) describes trauma as life’s encounter with death. This death, however, is not necessarily an encounter with literal death, but a manner to describe the shattering of life through events that change everything that a person or a group knows about life. Through trauma, death and life are linked. Trauma is different from other experiences of suffering because the person’s or group’s ability to respond to the traumatic experience is severely reduced (Rambo, 2010: 18).38 Life
will never be the same because of life’s encounter with death through trauma.
She further states that trauma is what does not go away. It is the result of the storm. It happened in the past, but its intrusive fragments of memories of the traumatic event return. Life after the storm is different. It is life influenced by the recurring reality of death (Rambo, 2010: 2). Rambo also argues, as does Caruth (1996: 3), that studies in trauma suggest that trauma has a double structure: the actual incidence of a violent event(s) and a delayed awakening to the event. Trauma is not exclusively located in the event itself but, instead, includes the return of the event, the ways in which the event is not concluded. Memory therefore plays an important role in trauma (Rambo, 2010: 7).
In connection with what Rambo states, Dawid Mouton (2014: 97–98) argues that trauma is a lived reality where the traumatised find themselves in a space where the line between life and death has been blurred – a space where trauma is faced continually.
In their book Narrating our healing: Perspectives on Working through Trauma, Van der Merwe and Gobodo-Madikizela formulated a definition of trauma that resonates well with this study. Van der Merwe and Gobodo-Madikizela describe life as an endeavour in search of a narrative. They quote the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur saying: “Stories are told and not lived; life is lived and not told”. Ricoeur further states that this is not always the case. Stories are also lived and life is also told. Life then, is described by Van der Merwe and Gobodo-Madikizela as a narrative (Van der Merwe & Gobodo-Madikizela, 2007: 1).
In life, we are the narrators, authors and readers of our lives. Describing life as a narrative is an important way in finding meaning. One’s life is characterised by a plot, main characters, subordinate characters, climaxes and anti-climaxes. Life happens in various settings. Every small component forms part of the whole and is imperative to the formation of life. The development of one’s life is internally connected to the ethical values of the narrator and choices that one makes in one’s life. The exciting part of life is that one does not know what the future might bring – we are still in the
despair, aggressive rage and helpless submission, among others. To each of these self-states, the all-powerful Other looks decidedly different” (Cataldo, 2013: 797).
38 It is understood, from the perspective of Shelly Rambo (2010: 18), that not all suffering lead to trauma. Due
to the unexpected nature of the traumatic event, the normal processes and interpretations that a person or a group utilise to deal with suffering, shuts down. This results in a range of traumatic symptoms. One aspect that distinguish traumatic suffering from other forms of suffering, is the persistent intrusive recollections of the event that causes trauma.
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midst of our stories and we cannot know what will happen tomorrow (Van der Merwe & Gobodo- Madikizela, 2007: 2–3).
The essential aspect that this description of life acknowledges, is that one’s narrative as an individual is connected to other narratives. Van der Merwe and Gobodo-Madikizela describe this notion as follows (Van der Merwe & Gobodo-Madikizela, 2007: 4):
The narrative of my life is linked to a multitude of other narratives, and its interaction with these other narratives forms part of its total meaning. Narrating my life is not merely an individual matter. I am not only the main character of my own story, but also a minor character in the stories of others; my story is intertwined with those of others. My story is embedded in family histories and in the history of a city and a country; my story is part of our story.
We are thus born into narratives and we have no choice in the matter, but we do have choices in terms of our position in relationship with conventional narratives. Individuals write their own stories, but together it forms the narrative of a society (Van der Merwe & Gobodo-Madikizela, 2007: 5). Narratives can also be conflicting. This is shown throughout history. South Africa’s recent history showcases this. The preceding years leading up to 1994 were perceived from a certain perspective as a struggle for freedom of racial oppression, and from another perspective as a war against terrorists and the threat of communism against society (Van der Merwe & Gobodo-Madikizela, 2007: 7).
Narrating our lives is about finding structure, meaning and coherence in life, as individuals and as a society. Trauma, in terms of this description of life as a narrative, does the exact opposite. Trauma shatters life’s narrative structure, and meaning in life is lost. Trauma causes individuals and societies to “lose the plot” (Van der Merwe & Gobodo-Madikizela, 2007: 6).39 Trauma causes what Rambo
(2015: 10–11) describes as follows in her understanding of a trauma lens: trauma alters language and the use of words; one’s physical body, but also one’s relationship to the societal body, and the concept of time. Janzen suggests that trauma resists narratives and it presents itself as a gap in narratives. “By its very nature, trauma resists and subverts the common or stereotypical language of
39 Van der Merwe in his recent publication, Gesprek sonder einde: Waar pas ek in by God se verhaal? (2016:
155–156), also describes trauma’s shattering of a narrative. He explains that one’s life is seen as a narrative. Describing life as a narrative entails that life needs to be investigated, to find meaningful relations, to find the links between cause and consequence and to see patterns that repeat themselves in one’s life. From this humans construct their values and their unique identity is grounded. When a great trauma hits, the sense and coherence of that narrative is shattered and it falls to pieces. Traumatic wounds are painful and the pain is of specific nature. To injure one’s ankle is painful, but it is not traumatic. To loose one’s leg is traumatic, because life’s structure shatters. Trauma destroys the unity of one’s life story. The pain is twofold: The event itself is terrible and the memory of what happens that haunts one later in one’s life, makes it worse. People have the willingness to talk about it, but they cannot, for the lack of words to describe this reality, is evident. Sometimes it is too painful to talk about it because it will bring forth the painful memory. And yet there is a longing to share the trauma with someone who would understand.
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narrative, making ‘familiar traditional words’ merely ‘fabrication’,” Janzen states in this regard (2012: 38).
Isobel de Gruchy tells something of this shattering of life’s narrative in the following poem (De Gruchy, 2013: 6):
When the ordered tenor of our life is shattered by the unimaginable; when the phone-call that splinters others’ lives rings for us;
when a nightmare that horrifies turns into reality;
how can we believe that anything could be well again – ever?
Anguish breaks over us in torrents, like the torrents that overwhelmed you – submerged you, extinguished your life: but we surface again;
we go on living; we face each day, wounded and grieving. We hold on to each other, and take a halting step: can we dare hope that all shall be well,
and all shall be well
and all manner of thing shall be well again – ever?40
The definition of trauma as formulated by Van der Merwe and Gobodo-Madikizela, is useful for this study because of the focus on people’s lives as narratives. The author of 1 Peter wrote a letter to several congregations in Asia Minor, but behind the letter lies the narrative of the author, as well as the narratives of the lives of the first audience. Because I am working with a biblical text (literature), this metaphor of trauma as the shattering of one’s or a group’s narrative resonates well with the
40 This poem was written for and read at Steve de Gruchy’s memorial service in March 2010. Steve, John and
Isobel de Gruchy’s son and a South African theologian, died on 21 February 2010 in a river accident in the Drakensberg.
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nature of the study. This description of trauma assists this study, because it also acknowledges the alterations that trauma makes in terms of time, body and word.
When studying trauma, it is also important to recognise that there are different forms and causes of trauma.41 Individual trauma may differ from communal trauma, although they may overlap in various
ways. Cultural trauma reflects experiences of collective trauma that influence people in a systemic manner.42 Trauma caused by violence may be different from trauma experienced after a divorce. In
general, trauma in relationships is a big reality in people’s lives. In particular, domestic violence is a great cause of trauma in many South African households.43 Then there is also trauma caused by
betrayal. A spouse’s affair or a spouse that is emotionally or physically absent may create a sense of trauma. Although trauma may differ in cause and form, symptoms of trauma appear to be similar or analogous.
The study of trauma began with studying the individual. Studies in cultural or structural trauma and historical trauma have also emerged as part of the discussion. Van der Merwe and Gobodo- Madikizela (2007: 11) distinguish between historical and structural trauma in the following way: Historical trauma refers to a single catastrophic disaster, which can be personal or individual (such as rape) or communal (such as a flood or the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Structural or
41 Judith Herman (a psychiatrist), in her famous work Trauma and Recovery, states what happens when one
studies trauma, regardless of what type of trauma it entails: “To study psychological trauma is to come face to face both with human vulnerability in the natural world and with the capacity for evil in human nature. To study psychological trauma means bearing witness to horrible events. When the events are natural disasters or ‘acts of God,’ those who bear witness sympathize readily with the victim. But when traumatic events are of human design, those who bear witness are caught in the conflict between victim and perpetrator. It is morally impossible to remain neutral in this conflict. The bystander is forced to take sides” (Herman, 1992: 4).
42 Michael Bond (2007: 28–29), a scholar in psychology from the Chinese University in Hong Kong, suggests
that there are different forms of cultural and collective violence. It depends on its scope, duration and complexity. He further states: “In the course of inflicting the savagery, personal motivations other than normative compliance may be met, at least for some perpetrators, and these idiosyncratic needs help sustain and augment the brutality targeted against the enemy by the group as a whole. Individuals with cruel, sadistic and sociopathic dispositions flourish in parlous times, because they are regarded as acting for their group and are therefore tolerated, encouraged, even idolized. But, they need their collective backing them to legitimize, to support and sustain their violence. The group in times of war provides an incubator for these persons, whose acts in times of peace and directed towards in-group members would result in ostracism, imprisonment, or execution.”
43 South Africa has some of the highest prevalence of domestic and intimate partner violence. Recent studies
by the South African Medical Research Council have found that 40% of men have hit their partners and one in four men has raped a woman. Three-quarters of men who said that they had raped a woman say that they did so first as teenagers. Whilst a quarter of South Africa’s women has been raped, it seems as if only 2% of those raped by their intimate partner report the incident to the police (Domestic violence in South Africa: What’s
happened to our men? 2013. [Online]. Available: http://www.sacap.edu.za/blog/counselling/domestic-
violence-south-africa-whats-happened-men/. [2015, October 12]. In an article that appeared in the Star of 3 April 2014, it is said that on average three women in South Africa are murdered by their intimate partner each day. South African women are more likely to be murdered by their intimate partner than a stranger. Whil st South Africa’s murder rate has declined between 1999 and 2009, the incidence of women killed by their intimate partners has increased from 50% to 57%. 30% of these women are killed by men they were dating, 52% by partners these women where living with and 18% by their husbands (The home is dangerous for
women (The Star). 2014. [Online]. Available: http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/the-home-is-dangerous-for-women-
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cultural trauma refers to a configuration of repeated traumas (such as apartheid, the Holocaust during the Second World War, et cetera).44
Structural trauma traumatises people and communities on a daily basis and shatters people’s lives because they also feel powerless to do something about the source of the trauma.45 There are
differences across cultures in what constitutes trauma and how a particular culture responds to and manages the trauma (Stamm, Stamm, Hudnall & Higson-Smith, 2004: 92).46
Sometimes historical and structural trauma overlap when an event that has happened in the past (historical trauma) causes structural trauma as it continues. Historical trauma and structural trauma are damaging in different ways. Structural trauma is not only agonising in itself, but it continues to