Trauma, ideology and memory in Israel: The politics of vulnerability in the Israeli professional literature

Contemporary Israeli trauma research tends to reminisce about earlier periods of its discipline, but usually it demarcates itself against them by devaluating them as unscientific and ideologically committed. A study of four stations of Israeli trauma discourse, ranging from the late forties to the nineties, will show that although such memories may serve to highlight earlier ideologically conditioned misconceptions and repressions, they do not protect present trauma research against political influences, which crucially impact on the way in which critical memories of the professional past emerge.