ABSTRACT
The influence of conflict and unconscious fantasy on the assimilation of trauma is short-changed, thereby eclipsing the specific knowledge psychoanalysts bring to bear on the subject: the work of unconscious processes and their role in shaping memories and giving them meaning. The role of dissociation as a mechanism preventing the assimilation of trauma has received a great deal of attention. Dissociation is a coping mechanism, aimed at segregating subjectivity from overwhelming experiences in order to ensure the survival of the psyche. The identification with the victimisation of the parents bestows on the historic trauma a specific defensive role as a screen. In the case of descendants of trauma survivors, the historic events that shaped the experience of the parents frequently play a significant part because they have a specific function: the parents were traumatised and the children lived in a dysfunctional family.
