Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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Chapter 1 • Silvia Salvatici<br />
She seemed confused by the coexistence of new ways of living and old<br />
values, a situation further complicated by a rapid rhythm of transformation<br />
that did not allow the women’s experiences to enter the realm of public<br />
awareness.<br />
Past, present and identities<br />
The construction of memory and the depiction of the present seem to be<br />
processes that follow different paths. On one hand, the two converge in a<br />
collective voice mainly addressed toward the international community,<br />
one that would intend to assert itself as the single expression of a national<br />
identity that is monolithic, solid, rooted in tradition and forged by the long<br />
lasting conflict. The basic components of this identity were characterized<br />
as suffering, (which, of course, is made no less real by its role in the construction<br />
of a collective identity), and self-pity. Both of these characteristics<br />
are typical of nationalistic discourses in the Balkan region, as studies<br />
of the area have shown. 20 According to this perspective, memories of<br />
past hardship and descriptions of present struggles are all considered<br />
attributable to a cause that concerns the entire community, a collective<br />
concern. Suffering, pain and struggle are elevated from private, individual<br />
spheres to the public one, and the result is one of reassurance and support.<br />
Psychological suffering thus becomes a constituent part of this self-pitying<br />
auto-representation, and claims lineage from the “trauma” produced by the<br />
war and its consequences. This collective discourse, however, fails to recognize<br />
the individual paths, the variety of family and social contexts, the<br />
specificity of an individual’s needs. The collective voice tends to deny differences<br />
within itself, in order to project an image of inner cohesion and<br />
homogeneity, worthy of functioning by itself, in contrast with outside<br />
communities.<br />
On the other hand, the accounts also revealed different memories of the<br />
past and varied perceptions of the present, reflecting the complexity of a<br />
situation: the conflict produced and still generates grief and anguish, but it<br />
had and still has other effects as well, such as unknown spaces of autonomy,<br />
conflicts between different realities (some that involve the tension<br />
of belonging to a specific community), and the experience of new<br />
resources. A plurality of voices has emerged along the boundaries marked<br />
by individual experiences, as well as those created by gender, generational<br />
and social-cultural divides. Such boundaries have grown even within the<br />
limits of a national community. These multiple voices express the research<br />
on new balances and on the rise of contradictions, lacerations and fractures<br />
produced by the experience of the war and by the rapid transformation of<br />
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