The Holocaust across generations : trauma and its inheritance among descendants of survivors / Janet Jacobs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jacobs, Janet Liebman, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Psychological aspects.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945).

Psychological aspects.

Holocaust survivors--Psychology.

Holocaust survivors.

Children of Holocaust survivors--Mental health.

Children of Holocaust survivors.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Social aspects.

Intergenerational communication--Case studies.

Intergenerational communication.

Social aspects.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

ix, 179 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2016]

Summary:

Over the last two decades, the cross-generational transmission of trauma has become an important area of research within both Holocaust studies and the more broad study of genocide. Although research suggest that the Holocaust informs the social-psychological development of the children of survivors, the social mechanisms by which trauma is transmitted across generations have yet to be explained. Moreover, the importance of gender to the intergenerational transmission of trauma has largely been under-studied. In The Holocaust across Generations, Janet Jacobs fills these gaps in the study of traumatic transference, combining the story of post-Holocaust family culture with the study of collective memory. Through an in-depth study of seventy-five children and grandchildren of survivors, the book examines the social frames through which survivors convey the trauma of the Holocaust to succeeding generations. It explores the social structures-such as narratives, rituals, belief systems, and memorial sites-through which the collective memory of trauma is transmitted within families, examining the social relations of traumatic inheritance among children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Within this framework, feminist theory and the importance of gender are brought to bear on the study of traumatic inheritance and the formation of trauma-based identities among Holocaust carrier groups. Book jacket.

Contents:

Family narratives and the social construction of descendant identity

Ritual and the emotional transmission of Holocaust trauma

Redefining the sacred: spirituality and the crisis of masculinity among children and grandchildren of survivors

The social relations of inherited trauma: the meaning of attachment and connection in the lives of descendants

Reengaging the past: identity, mourning, and empathy at sites of terror

Descendants as Holocaust carriers: bringing the past into public consciousness

The changing landscape of Holocaust remembrance and future directions in the study of traumatic inheritance.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781479833566

1479833568

9781479839292

1479839299

OCLC:

950611276