| The Communist totalitarian system of oppression that operated in Romania during the period between 1945 and 1989 produced severe atrocities and crimes against humanity. Through extended imprisonment in the Romanian Gulag, this totalitarian system traumatized its victims. Experiences from a traumatic event, lacking temporal organization, and evaluative systems, cannot be narrated in a way that accurately communicates the victimizing experience (Barclay, 1995).; The purpose of my dissertation is to show how Romanian Gulag's imprisonment experiences produced trauma, which is reflected in the narrative texts generated by the participants in my study. I examine how the incarceration conditions affected victims' psychological well-being.; Using a multiple case study approach based on tape recorded interviews, I collected interviews from six victims of Communist imprisonment and analyzed the content using two variables indicative of difficulties of integrating experiences, namely, density and coherence (Barclay, 1995). I also examine how thematical units can express control versus autonomy.; My principal hypothesis is that there will be less density, coherence and autonomy in Gulag-related texts (all experiences in the Gulag) relative to those texts from pre-, or post-Gulag life. Using Barclay's model of Coherent Narratives, the instances of density and coherence are measured in the interviews. Second, I have rated the instances of control versus autonomy using Self-Determination theory as a depiction of environment. I have compared qualitatively and quasi-quantitatively, the relevant texts and looked for density, coherence and autonomy/control instances. As a second hypothesis, I have also explored instances of both dissociation and doubling as forms of adaptation to the disturbing experiences that incarcerated people encountered and I have evaluated those instances to confirm my hypothesis. |
