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Chapter 7 - The Texture of Time

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2025

Laurence J. Kirmayer
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
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Summary

Chapter 7 explores some ways in which metaphors trauma shape the experience of the self and temporality through examples from refugees and Holocaust survivors. A key function of narrative is organizing the experience of time. Narratives of the self have consequences for the experience time. The discussion distinguishes two meta-narratives of the self in terms of their implicit root metaphors and associated temporalities: the adamantine self, characterized by endurance, integrity, coherence, autonomy, self-definition, self-determination, and self-control; and the relational self, characterized by flexibility, fluidity, sensitivity to context, multivocality, interdependence, and responsiveness. These models of the self are associated with different ideologies and forms of social life that shape trauma memory and experience. They also influence the ways that trauma experience is narrated through personal and collective stories. This occurs in settings that require an attentive listener. The ethics of storytelling has an essential counterpart in the ethics of listening, which involves particular forms of temporality and ways of participating in a cultural community.

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  • The Texture of Time
  • Laurence J. Kirmayer, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Healing and the Invention of Metaphor
  • Online publication: 17 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009617802.007
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  • The Texture of Time
  • Laurence J. Kirmayer, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Healing and the Invention of Metaphor
  • Online publication: 17 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009617802.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Texture of Time
  • Laurence J. Kirmayer, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Healing and the Invention of Metaphor
  • Online publication: 17 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009617802.007
Available formats
×