The role of storytelling as a possible trauma release for war veterans: A narrative approach

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The role of storytelling as a possible trauma release for war veterans: A narrative approach
 
Creator Dickson, Nicole Meylahn, Johann A.
 
Subject Practical Theology; Social Constructionism; Narrative Therapy stories; meaning-making; master narrative; construction of identity; socially constructed discourses; trauma; militaristic masculinity; storytelling
Description The master narrative of Apartheid South Africa created a specific identity for white boys and men and, together with this identity, a very particular role and place within the South African context. This identity was exemplified in the men who were conscripted into the military from 1967 until 1994, and who participated in operations on the border regions of Namibia and Angola as well as within local townships in the war of liberation against apartheid and minority rule. Many veterans have been left grappling not only with the traumas associated with combat but also with the loss of their identities as war heroes in a country under changed political control. As a result, many of their personal stories and experiences of combat have been silenced by society at large and also, to varying degrees, within their own families, the Church, and among the younger generation who have grown up under a different dispensation. The conflict between vacillating narratives of villains who fought on the wrong side of history and victims of a closed socialisation system has supported the identity struggle faced by many veterans today. Against this backstory, this article explores the effects of storytelling as a trauma release using a narrative approach.Contribution: This article offers a contribution to the use of storytelling in pastoral conversations as a trauma release for untold stories. This insight links to the focus and scope of the journal as a pastoral narrative approach has been used under the umbrella of Practical Theology.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Prof Johann Albrecht Meylahn, Pretoria University, Faculty of Religion and Theology
Date 2024-05-15
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Qualitative social constructionism
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v80i1.9408
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 80, No 1 (2024); 7 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/9408/27019 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/9408/27020 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/9408/27021 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/9408/27022
 
Coverage — South African Border War Gender; Ethnicity; Religion
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Nicole Dickson, Johann Albrecht Meylahn https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT