Trauma porn skin#

JSOne of the most interesting parts of the essay focuses on the problem of what you call, after the philosopher Ian Hacking, РІР‚Сљlooping.РІР‚Сњ Can you talk about what looping is, and how it helps explain the way overemphasizing the traumatic nature of suffering can actually make suffering more traumatic?Р”Р„FI first came across the philosopher Ian Hacking's work when I read his book Mad Travelers, in which he writes about a condition called РІР‚Сљfugue,РІР‚Сњ which was a mental health disorder that began to be diagnosed in the late 1800s. This does a disservice to those who are truly traumatized, and I will only say this-in my experience, genuine trauma sufferers tend not to tweet about their pain.

Trauma porn skin#

Maybe what is being gained is comfort in knowing that, cocooned by relative wealth, nationality, or the safety of skin color, this fate will never belong to them.Р”Р‡inally, there are those who have co-opted the term РІР‚СљtraumaРІР‚Сњ to describe any kind or level of discomfort-typically their own. I described that urging to a friend, a war correspondent, who had a name for it: РІР‚Сљnarcissistic empathy.РІР‚Сњ That is when the feelings of the consumer are given greater emphasis than those of putative victim. During question time some audience members wanted the speaker to reveal more of their hurt. Later, when I moved to the United States, often I found myself sitting in audiences, surrounded by well-heeled people listening to a writer or a poet lay bare their pain. When I published my own memoir years before, I, too, was taken aback by the fact that many people were surprised to find I was a normal, functioning human being with a lively sense of humor. In fact, she was a highly spirited and balanced young woman, fighting to bring understanding to a people's fight against oppression. That voyeuristic reaction was not what she wanted or expected. РІР‚СљI feel like a car crash everyone is slowing down to look atРІР‚Сњ: these were words spoken to me by a writer who had described in her memoir the suffering her family had endured while living under a dictatorship. I imagine that, at some point, publishers found that РІР‚СљtraumaРІР‚Сњ increased sales. The consequences and revelation of a past trauma play neatly to plot and character development and allow the possibility of ending with some kind of resolution. Partly, I think, there is pressure on writers by editors to provide psychological motives for their characters. JSWhy do you think what you might call the trauma narrative has become so dominant, at least in American culture? What are its costs?Р”Р„FWriters have always written about suffering, but I agree there has been a shift toward trauma as plot device. If you look at the arc of my work over those years-a memoir and four novels-youРІР‚в„ўll see that the last book is called Happiness. In other words, they have gone on to enjoy their lives. But I have also seen people rebuild their lives, fall in love, enjoy friends and family, create art, build homes, love their pets.

I've been writing about war and its aftermath for twenty years. What was the inspiration for the essay?Р”Р„MINATTA FORNA Sierra Leone is the country of my father and much of my life. JAMES SUROWIECKI Your essay for us, РІР‚Сљ Who Owns Your Story?,РІР‚Сњ looks at the way many people have come to think of almost all suffering as traumatic.

The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Aminatta FornaРІР‚в„ўs recent essay РІР‚Сљ Who Owns Your Story?РІР‚Сњ resonated with our readers to such a degree that we reached out to Forna to learn more about the genesis of her piece, how she thinks about resilience in the face of suffering, and why trauma narratives have become so dominant in American culture.