The Dialectics of Trauma and the Need for a New Narrative

Abstract

The climate threat is imminent and we need to find a new etical framework to prevent the exploiting of nature´s resources. Water is the preequisite for all life; the sea is the rule of our planet - it makes up 70 per cent of the earth´s suface - the earh is the exception. We look out over infinity and we are filled with the ”oceanfeeling” - a sense of life and belonging. How do we preserve the sense of life? We need to find a new narrative that helps us  preserving the planet - not destroying it. Starting with a discussion between Sigmund Freud and Romain Rolland about the ”oceanfeeling” I try to show how Freud - and othodox psyhoanalytic theory - turned away from our deepest feelings of vulnerability and dependence in the the abandonment of the seduction theory. The exploited children - and the trauma they were exposed to - were sacrificed in a theory that rather tended to conceal and legitimize abuse. Consequently the roots of empathy and moral were not explored in the dualistic and pessimistic view of man driven by his insticts, that eventually emerged.    D.W. Winnicott, on the contrary, opens up for a profound understanding of the child´s processes of becoming and I believe that this understanding serves as a starting point for our understanding of ourselves as well as the understanding of nature. To subordinate ourselves to nature and adapt to it, we need a new narrative that tells us how we preserve our sense of the ”oceanfeeling” and our wonder for nature. This narrative needs to bring to life not only our relationship with our children, but also with nature. It has to be true and tell the story of our vulnerability and dependence on each other and on the nature that surrounds us.