Grief, Trauma, and Magic: A Memoir

Abstract

This is a study of the anthropological and psychological research on grief and bereavement. The anthropological and ethnographic examples of grief highlight the experience of bereavement at a cultural and individual basis. From a psychological perspective, the work of Sigmund Freud and the discipline of psychoanalysis are intertwined within the cultural examples of the manifestations of grief. Through combining anthropology and psychology, this is a detailed exploration of the various modalities and affective nature of the experience of losing a loved one. The first chapter is an extensive literature review which provides various cultural examples and explications of the experience of grief. The literature review is divided into separate relevant themes that have been identified and explored by anthropologists and psychoanalysts alike. The second and final chapter is an autoethnography of my own experience of losing my mother, Leslie, and the prevailing themes that have shaped my grief and mourning process. Autoethnography is more than a qualitative research tool; it is a creation that is produced through the process of self-introspection and self-expression. This autoethnography stands as a memoir and product of my grief, as well as an object or bridge that binds life to death and allows my mother to resurface in the present. I will draw upon the research on grief and the uncanny, dreams, and the fluctuating, impactful nature of trauma and memory through autoethnography, storytelling, poetry and other stylistic writing forms. Autoethnographic methods can be used to reveal the complexities of loss, the nature of trauma, and various ways of grieving and healing. These anthropologists use autoethnography to heal themselves and others, as well as to reveal the experience of grief from a personal perspective. This autoethnography is aimed to be in line with the work of these anthropologists and to contribute to research on grief and bereavement that considers the insertion of the anthropologist through autoethnographic method and memoir.