Giving+Up+Ghosts+Notes+on+Trauma+and+the+Possibility+of+the+Political+from+Southeast+Asia

Morris, Rosalind C. “Giving Up Ghosts: Notes on Trauma and the Possibility of the Political from Southeast Asia.” //Positions// 16:1 (2008) : 229-258. Web.

Rosalind Morris examines the idea of trauma through ghosts and other paranormal phenomena, specifically referencing **Vietnamese cultural beliefs** regarding death. Morris also explores the psychological theories of **Sigmund Freud** and **Joseph Kant** regarding death, the unconscious and the connection to belief in life after death.

From article abstract: “The author discusses psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's concept of trauma and its genealogical link to an originally Kantian conception of accident. Freud's theory of trauma is described by a number of well-known paradoxes including physiological injury linked to fright diminishes the chance that neurosis will happen. The author recommends that the labor of translating trauma discourse may be best operated when focus is displaced in trauma studies.”

Morris critiques psychological theories regarding death from Freud and Kant, two influential psychologists. Morris extrapolates a connection to Southeast Asian culture from the arguments presented by these psychologists. Morris examines the form and the meaning of reported appearances of ghosts in Southeast Asian cultures, and the connection to the context of trauma. The author proposes that processing trauma may involve redirecting attention towards an unexpected event, such as an encounter with a ghost, from ‘a wound to an accident’. Refernces: Morris, Rosalind C. “Giving Up Ghosts: Notes on Trauma and the Possibility of the Political from Southeast Asia.” //Positions, // (2008) 229-258. Web.