Postwar creations of strangers and estrangement: Notes on the ways to recovery and normalization

Augustyn Bańka

Abstract

This paper is an attempt at exploring the phenomenon of creation of strang­ers and estrangement as post-war trauma effects. It starts with an observation that post-war is a mental state manifesting itself in individuals as estrangement from themselves, environment, other people, and from the very meaning of life. The post-war trauma triggers a tendency for recovery and normalization of life, which, however, never ends. The paper focuses mainly on four aspects. Firstly, critical moments of the evolution of post-war periods in Europe are discussed, starting with the end of war until now. Secondly, the evolution of change in mental moral grammar in specific post-war periods is looked upon. Thirdly, paths to recovery and normalization through the creation of strangers and es­trangement in consecutive, critical post-war periods are indicated. Lastly, this paper tries to present the paradoxes of all the periods of the post-war syndrome