ABSTRACT
Chapter 13 introduces the cultural representation theory (CRT) of trauma, which suggests that in addition to social memory, trauma memory can become represented in culture and transmitted as part of cultural learning. In this framework, culture is understood as a form of information processing and the most durable form of collective memory, with the capacity to “freeze” and preserve contents unchanged for many generations. The inertia of culture can be explained by the way this information is encoded (mythology) and the universal reverence for the “wisdom of elders,” implying that these ancestors had access to sacred knowledge. Understanding culture as a reservoir of cumulative collective survival memory can explain its evolutionary role in preserving and passing on this important knowledge. As such, culture is poorly adjustable to modern life, and preserves the memory of survivorship intact. Among others, cultural learning includes life lessons formulated as survival messages and superstitions. While it is supposed to benefit the successive generations, this knowledge can also be at the core of cultural trauma formation: It seals the victimhood and survivorship as part of cultural identity, which can explain the pervasiveness of cultural trauma in subsequent generations.
