Trauma and the Indexicality of the Missing Sign

Abstract

While the term “trauma” is often in current usage, the author points out that one does not even have a good measure of what the word itself means. In a technical sense, is “trauma” the result of an action or the action itself, and in what manner may one differentiate between the two? Further, having defined trauma and using a Freudian depth psychological model of trauma, the author reads a seminal Hebrew religious text. Using the Kleinian and Freudian analytic structure, the author understands the manner in which this text may plausibly have been redacted in an answer to cultural trauma. Structurally, this paper will examine Freudian depth psychological theory, the historical textuality of the Mishnah, and specifically the polysemous nature of the word "trauma" all in an attempt to understand a specific line of Mishnaic text in its historical context.