Representation of Cultural Traumas in Contemporary Public Discourse: “New Frankness” of Meta-Modernism

Abstract

The prerequisites for this study are criticism of postmodernism by theorists and philosophers of culture, and the actualisation of metamodernism as one of the most popular theories of postmodernism. The relevance of the study is determined by the appearance of a ‘new sensitivity’ having arisen from geopolitical events of the 2000s. Metamodernism theory authors declare the new structure of sensation to be different from the dominants of postmodernism and modernism. The article describes the transformation of the representation of cultural traumas in public discourse with the consideration of ideas of metamodernism and a new frankness. The article covers the methodological capabilities for using postmodernism and metamodernism discourses for analysing the principles of representation of cultural trauma within public discourse. Distinguishing features of new frankness are highlighted. Immortal Regiment action is analysed as an example of actualisation of personal experience and family history in public discourse. The concept of ‘new frankness’ increases the role and significance of the witness. The examples of works of contemporary mass culture and media resources are used to trace the actualisation of the witness’s narrative of cultural trauma. Warmth, depth, and affect, characteristic of metamodernism, actualise the demand for plausibility and personal experience of an event. An indirect effect of these hypotheses consists in that narratives on cultural trauma are multivariate as manifested in criticism of the conventional image of a historic event. Re-evaluating historical events from different points of view triggers mechanisms of latent trauma, potentially making almost any historical event a cultural trauma. The study resulted in the revelation of accentuation of sensitivity in narratives of cultural traumas, as opposed to manners prevailing in modernism and postmodernism discourses, i.e. practices of stigmatisation, suppression, and the commodification of cultural traumas.