Holokauszt és múltfeldolgozás az On the Spot dokumentumfilm-sorozat nyolcadik évadában (Az ellenség gyermekei)
Holocaust and Coming to Terms with the Past in On the Spot: Children of the Enemy

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the present paper is to examine the issues of Holocaust trauma and coming to terms with the past in Children of the Enemy, the eighth season of the documentary series On the Spot, discussing two episodes, one about Edith Eva Eger and the other about Gábor Máté. What is special about these stories is that instead of exploring the Holocaust in historical depth, the makers’ focus falls on the narratives of the survivors and their children, whereby they not only reveal the truth of storytelling, but they also recapture the subject’s past traumatic experiences in the present time. The filmmakers Eszter Cseke and András S. Takács make the viewers see these stories as important components of memory culture, and they do it so by moving toward the past not merely in itself, but by looking back from the present state of consciousness, discussing how the trauma of the past and the constant feeling of stress was and has been passed on to the next generation of survivors. Examining the life stories of Eger and Máté, I identify storytelling as an essential part of coming to terms, which makes both the teller and its audience face their trauma of the past by recalling the events of it. The paper also discusses the ways Eger and Máté have dealt with their own traumas, made their own self-discoveries, and used what they have learnt about themselves as an essential part of their psychotherapeutic practice.

• Details
• Contents