Abstract
Trauma as a topic in psycho-analysis, literature and politics has been articulated in waves. Defined by French clinicians at end of the 19thC., trauma has become an increasingly present topic in a host of disciplines. Today trauma is hype and in our wound culture it asserts individual identity. Yet, already in her 1917 Vae victis! novel, the British-born Italian writer Annie Vivanti develops trauma occasioned by rape during World War I as a central issue. In a very balanced presentation, she shows how the stigma of rape itself, the pros and cons of abortion, are traumatic and thus in interesting ways anticipates a century of social debate in terms of psychological, cultural and political perspectives. Against the backdrop of contemporary eugenics, Vivanti argues for serious consideration of the victims and their inclusion in the community at large. She contends that an inoffensive, secure environment and a relationship with other human beings (who thereby act as informal therapists) help to heal them from consequences of extreme violence. She uses a religious stance to resolutely inasmuch as surprisingly refrain from taking sides for or against abortion, half a century before it will become a fervently disputed issue.