Psychology
Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity in the Aftermath of Disaster
Quick fact
The term 'cultural trauma' was coined by sociologist Jeffrey Alexander to describe not the traumatic event itself but the collective process by which a group interprets and redefines its identity in response to a shocking experience—sometimes even without direct physical harm to all members.
Why this is interesting
Why do some disasters, like 9/11 or the Holocaust, become permanent markers of a group's identity, while others fade from memory? The answer lies not in the event itself but in how a society turns suffering into a story about who it is.