Psychological Trauma and the Legacies of the First World War

This transnational, interdisciplinary study of traumaticneurosis moves beyond the existing histories of medical theory, welfare, andsymptomatology. The essays explore the personal traumas of soldiers andcivilians in the wake of the First World War; they also discuss how memory andrepresentations of trauma are transmitted between patients, doctors andfamilies across generations. The book argues that so far the traumatic effectsof the war have been substantially underestimated. Trauma was shaped by gender,politics, and personality. To uncover the varied forms of trauma ignored bymedical and political authorities, this volume draws on diverse sources, suchas family archives and narratives by children of traumatized men, documentsfrom film and photography, memoirs by soldiers and civilians. This innovativestudy challenges us to re-examine our approach to the complex psychologicaleffects of the First World War.