The reading modality of popular trauma talk from within the province of human practice: A phenomenological hermeneutic perspective

Abstract

The term trauma occurs on a regular and frequent basis in Canadian newspapers. Contemporary inquiries into the phenomenon of the popularity of the term “trauma” have argued that trauma has become: a term that has drifted beyond its etymological root, a technical concept mistakenly and haphazardly applied, a symbol, and a functional communication tool. Problematically, each advance relies on a secondary approach to language. Specifically, each misses the inseparable connection between language and experience. Differently, the phenomenological hermeneutic approach taken in this dissertation moves beyond the notion of the ‘proper’, by deliberately considering the diversity of popular trauma talk as meaningful and intelligible for social members in the everyday practice of reading (de Certeau, 1984). This inquiry focuses on the modality of reading: that is, how social members actively do a popular trauma reading by modifying and making use of what is written when they establish a relation to what is read from within a particular Worldly existence. This work shows that when the modality of a popular trauma reading is considered in light of the generic and anonymous Worldly existence in which the reading occurs, the full scope of popular trauma talk is an open possibility for an everyday reading experience. This research demonstrates the benefits of adopting a phenomenological hermeneutic approach for understanding how people ‘consume’ cultural content.