Collective Trauma and the Armenian Genocide

Pamela Steiner is Senior Fellow, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University.

• PART ICOLLECTIVE TRAUMA: AN INTRODUCTION1. Introduction to Trauma, a Capacious Social Concept 2. Impaired Meaning Making, Trauma’s Meta-Effect 3. Some Distinctive Aspects of Collective Trauma PART IIA BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONSHIP4. The Tangled Roots of Homeland and Identity 5. The Riddle of Ottomanism 6. The Unlikely Alliance against the Sultan 7. The Final Path to Imperial Ruin 8. Five Men’s Traumatisation before they Acquired Power 9. The Armenian Genocide PART IIIVIOLENT ENTITLEMENT CARRIED INTO ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI RELATIONS IN TRANSCAUCASIA10. Enemies or Allies? Armenian–Azerbaijani Relations, 1850–1915 11. A Kaleidoscope of Armenian–Muslim Relations in the Intense Dynamics of Transcaucasia and Baku in 1917 12. Bolshevik Decrees and Anarchy in the Borderlands, Late 1917–Early 1918 13. How World War I Ended in Transcaucasia: Betrayal, New Republics, Race Murder 14. Baku, 1917–1918: More Conflict, its Seeds Planted for Transmission15. World War I’s End in Eastern Transcaucasia: War Fever Sparks the Turan Quest and Race Murder PART IVANALYSING AND PROCESSING COLLECTIVE TRAUMA: IS A DIFFERENT FUTURE POSSIBLE?16. How People Make Meaning in General, and Illustrated by an Armenian and a Turk 17. Meaning Making with Trauma and Relative Powerlessness in the Armenian People as a Whole 18. Meaning Making with Trauma and Relative Power among Turks Conclusion: Processing Collective Trauma Collectively: Will We?

The author’s statement that 'I decided to write this book when I believed I had a fresh and useful perspective to share,' perfectly encapsulates the importance and value of the book you are holding in your hands. Steiner examines, perhaps for the first time, the role collective trauma played among three peoples – Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Turks – and in their mutual relations. She shows how this collective trauma and those that followed are not only the product of their yet unresolved conflicts, but also serve as major stumbling blocks for a better future in the region. For them, the Armenian genocide is like an inescapable psychic maze of trauma, one in which they are trapped and unable to see beyond. If there is indeed a way out of this labyrinth, Steiner's work will serve as a torch, lighting the way.