Tijden van waanzin: Massaal geweld en representaties van trauma

Description

In his inaugural lecture Peter Keppy explores, at the intersection of anthropology and history, the cultural diversity and representation of trauma experiences in the aftermath of mass political violence: interstate wars, civil wars and state repression. Thanks to humanities and social sciences scientists, psychological suffering is now understood more broadly than from a purely medical perspective. Literary fiction and audiovisual expressions that we associate with popular culture offer a unique insight into local imaginations and interpretations of suffering. Postcolonial Southeast Asia, Indonesia in particular, constitute Keppy's research field in decoding the language of mental trauma. Using three examples, including an analysis of an Indonesian feature film from the 1950s about the return of freedom fighters to society, he illustrates complex moral dilemmas and emotions.

Period	12 Dec 2024
Held at	Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
Degree of Recognition	National