TRAUMATIC MEMORY OF CHERNOBYL (IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES)

Abstract

This article focuses on the traumatic memory of technogenic disasters in human history in the XX and early XXI. The article uses the method of oral history, which is based on the biographical testimonies of people who were at the epicenter of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. The article notes that trauma and its study are becoming more common today in the scientific interests of researchers in various sciences, namely the concept of trauma - continues to expand its meaning and focus of research. Thus, according to Barbara Mishtal: "Traumatic memory is a memory whose origins lie in a certain horrific experience; it is often particularly pronounced, obsessive, uncontrollable, persistent, and somatic. ” Oral historical evidence of the Chernobyl accident and the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant gives us enough examples to confirm the thesis that there is an injury in their narratives. Trauma has a clear manifestation and not always clear and conscious speech. Negative experiences have certain signals that indicate the presence of trauma in the narrative. Noteworthy is the classification of Gadi Benezer, who formulated certain markers - signals of trauma, according to which we can trace the presence or absence of trauma in the narrative. These signals are: self-awareness of trauma; trauma as a hidden event; prolonged silence during the recording of the interview; explosion of emotions; emotional alienation; stupor; repetition of traumatic memories repeatedly; immersion in the events of the past, mentioning one event or picture, insult several times during the conversation; acquittal of the narrator; inability to tell; voice changes; body language. The classification used makes it possible to identify the presence of trauma in oral histories and to be able to analyze the trauma, investigate it, find mechanisms and ways to overcome it.