Traces of Destruction: The emotional work of studying painful history

October 12, 2015 9:43 AM

But people who decide to study this violent history, people who write it all down — we’re also people who need to mail in tax forms, or put on a pot of coffee, call our dads. This can be difficult work, this act of entering the pre when you live in the post, and then having to be a person, and hand something in by a deadline, and walk away and study and do it again. For writers of colour who choose to study or tell the stories of their own communities, this in-between space is made more stark by the fact that they work within a system that often speaks about them, for them, but not with them.
posted by sciatrix (3 comments total)

Thank you for this. I'm still reading (slowly) and I can't comment meaningfully now, but it's something I needed to read and I'm getting a lot out of it and I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
posted by you must supply a verb at 12:41 PM on October 12, 2015 [4 favorites]

Great, thoughtful piece. Self care, especially if secondary trauma is a factor, is critical.
posted by childofTethys at 4:03 AM on October 13, 2015

Excellent piece. As someone addicted to Russian history and culture, I read a lot of grim history, but I have the luxury of saying "I don't think I'm up to dealing with the gulag any more this year." I can only try to imagine what it's like writing a book, or a series of books, about some hellish place and time, let alone being part of it through your family or people. I hope everyone who has to deal with such things manages to find some peaceful place they can retreat to as needed, even if only mentally. Thanks for the post.
posted by languagehat at 10:39 AM on October 13, 2015