THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF MOURNING: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE VICTIMS-SURVIVORS OF THE INDONESIA 1965-66 TRAGEDY

ALOYSIUS LUKAS SOENARJO SOESILO, Prof. Subandi, Ph.D

2018 | Disertasi | DOKTOR ILMU PSIKOLOGI

Objective: This study attempted to investigate the personal traumatic narratives of the victims/survivors of the tragedy, taking into account the social, political, cultural and historical context in which traumatization happened. Method: Three published autobiographies by the victims-survivors of the tragedy were selected and analyzed through a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Result: Findings of the analysis suggested that the trauma of the victims-survivors of the 1965-66 tragedy was individual and collective at the same time. Each autobiographical narrative presented personal and collective struggle with loss, fear, pain and violence. Each individual had to work through an unresolved or unfinished mourning during their extended incarceration and long after their release. Their life-stories also conveyed their resilience and transformation toward personal growth. Conclusions: Traumatization process is best understood in its societal, historical, ideological and discursive context because the psychosocial reality before, during, and after the traumatizing event shapes the trauma experience.

Objective: This study attempted to investigate the personal traumatic narratives of the victims/survivors of the tragedy, taking into account the social, political, cultural and historical context in which traumatization happened. Method: Three published autobiographies by the victims-survivors of the tragedy were selected and analyzed through a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Result: Findings of the analysis suggested that the trauma of the victims-survivors of the 1965-66 tragedy was individual and collective at the same time. Each autobiographical narrative presented personal and collective struggle with loss, fear, pain and violence. Each individual had to work through an unresolved or unfinished mourning during their extended incarceration and long after their release. Their life-stories also conveyed their resilience and transformation toward personal growth. Conclusions: Traumatization process is best understood in its societal, historical, ideological and discursive context because the psychosocial reality before, during, and after the traumatizing event shapes the trauma experience.

Kata Kunci : trauma, autobiographical narratives, hermeneutics, the Indonesian 1965-66 tragedy,