ABSTRACT
The interpretation of emotions raises particular problems in cultural research because of its primary preoccupation with collective analyses. Research into cross-cultural encounters and migration, on the one hand, and traumatology as a field of mental health studies on the other, are rapidly advancing areas of study, and are, furthermore, somewhat overlapping. A movement in psychocultural time or social space always involves the risk of imbalance in the individual and between individuals and the society. The ritual re-enactment of tragic events is intended to evoke anger at injustice as well as an accompanying dedication to the establishment of a righteous society among the participants. While mourning rituals have become mandatory symbols of political commitment to the regime, their ability to comfort the opponents has simultaneously decreased. Massive trauma does not only cause problems, but makes potential converts since the victims' experiences will have left them receptive to suggestion and in need of a substitute environment.
