ABSTRACT
The term ‘public tragedy’ is proposed as the most appropriate one to refer to phenomena of adversity that affect wider societal groupings; this leads to focusing on some key themes of the ancient Greek tragedy, especially in Aristotle’s writings. The meaning and function of ‘fear’, ‘pity’, and katharsis are examined, contrasting them to comparable attempts in our current societies to address ‘public tragedies’. The inappropriate interpretation of katharsis as purgation left its mark in modern ‘trauma theories’, via Freudian psychoanalysis. The tragedy, for Aristotle, should develop the citizens’ reflective contemplation about the human predicament, thus refining and ennobling them; in the context of communal participation and committed engagement, the raw anguish that emanates from the tragedy is transmuted and dignified, not just purged. Two new concepts are introduced to articulate a more precise understanding of the lived experiences in this field: the Interactional Matrix of Intervention, which refers to the cluster of people who are interactively engaged with any form of public tragedy, and polymorphous helplessness, which specifies the reactions people tend to have when such unexpected misfortunes strike. Throughout this chapter, the emphasis is on avoiding pathologisation and even psychologisation of human suffering.
