The Last Movie

The Meaning of ‘Moving On’: From Trauma to the History and Memory of Emotions in ‘Post-Conflict’ Northern Ireland

“…117 Work by historians of emotion has already begun to explore how concepts and insights from object relations theory may be used in historical interpretation of emotional formations and dynamics; as in my previous thinking about 'reparative remembering' as a means of undoing 'defensive' modes of subjective composure of the self, and in Roper's reading of soldiers' writing as a means to 'get rid of disturbing feelings' or as attempts at 'containing' otherwise 'nameless dread'. 118 There is scope for further work of this kind, to explore how emotional transformations in self and society are brought about after war and conflict, and to illuminate the complex and challenging meanings of 'moving on'. …”