Saying Goodbye – A Comparative Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Expatriation and Mourning

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Expatriation can qualify as a social trauma. The expatriate is deprived of a familiar, secure environment in which to continue their life. The process of a kind of symbolic mourning for loss is a necessary step to connect with a continued existence abroad. But can the traditional understanding of mourning, which commonly refers to the expression of sorrow for someone’s death, be compared to the symbolic mourning that expatriates experience? This presentation will introduce and bring attention to some of the most important principles of psychoanalysis related to mourning and give a brief overview of the shared features of grief and expatriate loss. Taking into consideration the various stages of emotions which are experienced by expatriates and mourners, we shall see that in both cases a sense of continuity in daily life within a known environment is interrupted, resulting in the development of acute pain and encapsulated sadness that accompany loss. Distance magnifies the reality of absence, which is present in both expatriation and mourning. Both events shed light on significant changes in the individuals’ perception of themselves and of their environment brought about by the experience of loss. By exploring psychoanalytic approaches, this paper aims to offer a deeper understanding of the intricate ways the human mind works at times of crisis.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Teodóra Dömötör received her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Surrey, UK. She currently works as an Assistant Professor at Karoli Gaspar University, Budapest. As a visiting scholar, she conducted extensive research at Columbia University (NY) and JFK Presidential Library (Boston). Her primary research interests include the narrative representation of immigration and identity in twentieth-century transnational American literature. She is committed to an interdisciplinary approach: social history, psychoanalysis, literary theory form the basis of her arguments. In addition to articles and chapters in American and European publications, she is working on her monograph focusing on the trauma of expatriation.