Reading Journal#3 - Essay Example

Reading journal from the “unclaimed experience: trauma and the possibility of history” by Caruth Cathy. Reading journal from the “Unclaimed experience: trauma and the possibility of history” by Caruth Cathy.In “Unclaimed experience: trauma and the possibility of history”, the author talks about the effects and relationship of trauma to the past and the present. It focuses on the way that history plays an important part in the happenings that lead to trauma. He attempts to show most people and especially the healthcare personnel can understand trauma and its experiences and help in its treatment.

It is an unclaimed experience that needs to be understood to help in the best handling of the traumatic patients. However, the one particular excerpt that stood out for me in this reading is “By placing his weight of history on the naming of Moses, moreover, the liberator of the Hebrews who led them out of Egypt, Freud implicitly and paradoxically connects the history of the Jews persecution to their very liberation, the return from captivity to freedom” (Caruth 183). It is used in the text to mean that all experiences in life which include the future have a strong relationship to their past.

Besides the experiences, it also includes those who were involved. For instance, the story of David and the Hebrews is included. In addition, both the lands of Hebrew and Canaan are introduced to depict the connectedness. However, in a much more explicit way, the main issues and concerns that are raised by this quote are there is a good reason as to why particular people and events take place. This is to show their interconnectivity and interrelationship between various occurrences and events.

I find it extremely significant especially in relation to trauma because it shows that certain challenging aspects of an individual’s life have accumulated so much to cause the distress. This means that the future holds so much of the events that took place in the past. Therefore, it can be thought to be overburdened when compared to trauma and hence the need to work out and release some of the burdens. This is a result of the numerous returns that have to be made by the psychoanalysts in order to understand the present conditions.

In particular, the return to memory, origins and those that are repressed becomes a vital aspect (Caruth, 1991). Despite this, there is also that one thing that made it striking or memorable. This is the fact that the phrase contains a lot of opposites. However, all of these are all connected and interrelated to bring about a particular meaning and understanding. It also bears the presence of a number of individuals, places and events all from the past and the present. They are intertwined in order to bring about the symbolism.

With the analysis of this passage, a major contribution can be made towards the ongoing discussion in the class. It is relevant in the sense that it portrays history as one of the most important aspects of an individual’s life. Without history then it is quite impossible to move on. In particular, it touches on the topic of trauma and how important it is to connect the experiences with the past. It has a lot of association with the material that is presented in the slideshow. Both of them focus on the aspects of relationships between several components.

Though different, they all lead to the same conclusion and meaning that in-depth analysis should be done in the cases of trauma management. References Caruth, C. (1991). “Unclaimed experience: trauma and the possibility of history”. Yale French Studies, No. 79, JSTOR: 181-192