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Cultural Trauma as a Potential Symbolic Boundary

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Abstract

Using the case of the Holocaust as a cultural trauma in the Jewish-Israeli context, some insights are suggested as to the ways younger members of collectives view cultural trauma as a symbolic boundary. The findings obtained from three groups of students, each expressing their views on a different facet of the Holocaust as a symbolic boundary, suggest that the major contributing factor that turns cultural trauma into a symbolic boundary is the way in which members of the collective categorize the modes through which others, within and outside the collective, relate to that cultural trauma.

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Notes

  1. See for example Jerusalem Post, May 5, 2006; Jerusalem Post, September 10, 2007; and Ha’Aretz, November 3, 2007.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, Raanana, Israel

    Alon Lazar

  2. Behavioral Science Department, Ben Gurion University, Eilat Campus, Eilat, Israel

    Tal Litvak-Hirsch

Authors
  1. Alon Lazar
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  2. Tal Litvak-Hirsch
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Correspondence to Alon Lazar.

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Lazar, A., Litvak-Hirsch, T. Cultural Trauma as a Potential Symbolic Boundary. Int J Polit Cult Soc 22, 183–190 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-009-9060-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-009-9060-1

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