Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Postmemory.

Stephen Frosh1

  • 1Department of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, Room 502A, 30 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5DT, UK. s.frosh@bbk.ac.uk.

American Journal of Psychoanalysis
|April 12, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

(In)security.

The International journal of psycho-analysis·2025
Same author

Jung and the Nazis: some implications for psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis and history·2011
Same author

Freud, psychoanalysis and anti-semitism.

Psychoanalytic review·2004
Same author

Commentary: echoes of the ordinary.

Psychology and psychotherapy·2004
Same author

Thinking, recognition, and otherness.

Psychoanalytic review·2004
Same author

Psychoanalysis, Nazism and 'Jewish science'.

The International journal of psycho-analysis·2003
Same journal

Between the Tale and the Dream: Sándor Ferenczi-Trauma and Dreams.

American journal of psychoanalysis·2026
Same journal

Tenderness in Our Work. Orpha and the Orphic Psychoanalyst.

American journal of psychoanalysis·2026
Same journal

The mongrel complex: identification with the aggressor, self-hatred and the drive to rest (Ruhetrieb).

American journal of psychoanalysis·2026
Same journal

Catastrophe and Creativity: From Fragmentation to Emergence.

American journal of psychoanalysis·2026
Same journal

With Ferenczi for a Decolonial Psychoanalysis.

American journal of psychoanalysis·2026
Same journal

Orpha and Creativity-Alda Merini: Poet of Trauma.

American journal of psychoanalysis·2026
See all related articles

Learning from the past, especially traumatic events, is crucial for future generations. Postmemorial work helps process inherited trauma, enabling recovery and preventing repetition of devastating effects.

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • History
  • Sociology

Background:

  • The concept of 'postmemory' explores how later generations grapple with the trauma of predecessors.
  • Generational transmission of trauma can inhibit forward progress for 'post' generations.
  • Understanding the ethics of memory and history is vital to avoid repeating past mistakes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a psychoanalytic reading of postmemory literature.
  • To distinguish between postmemory as traumatic identification and postmemorial work as a process of working through.
  • To emphasize the importance of active memorial work for recovery.

Main Methods:

  • Psychoanalytic literary criticism.
  • Analysis of second-generation Holocaust literature.
Keywords:
Holocaustpostmemorytraumaworking-through

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examination of narrative, silence, and representation in transmitting experiences.

    • Main Results:

    • Postmemory can manifest as a mode of traumatic identification with predecessors' experiences.
    • Postmemorial work offers a pathway for processing and working through inherited trauma.
    • Active engagement with memorialization transforms repetitive trauma into recovery.

    Conclusions:

    • Effective memorial work is essential for "laying ghosts to rest" and achieving recovery from intergenerational trauma.
    • Distinguishing between passive postmemory and active postmemorial work is key.
    • Psychoanalytic perspectives illuminate the complex dynamics of inherited historical trauma.