Transcending Shadows

'This book on the trans-generational transmission of trauma after a social catastrophe is the best this reviewer has read. It is based on thorough psychoanalytic, qualitative research, it is scholarly written, and it presents a high level of reflection and analysis. It is much-needed now as we see massive traumatization of people in several places around the world. Deep insights into the societal conditions before, during and after the cultural revolution are presented. Traumatization is placed in a historical, societal and cultural context seldom seen in studies on traumatization.

The insights and conclusion are valid for other contexts than the Chinese, such as those we see today in Ukraine, Sudan, and Palestine-Israel.

Yao Lin's book is a profoundly and highly valuable contribution for those who work with traumatized persons and their descendants, and for societies who need to heal historical wounds.'

Sverre Varvin, professor emeritus, Oslo Metropolitan University; training analyst, Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society

'Based on original intergenerational research, Lin's book carefully traces the intimate dimensions of Maoist China's traumatic history. Admirably crafted, Lin's analysis of the discourses of three generations succeeds in highlighting important points and the repetition of patterns that would have remained invisible without the careful collection and analysis of these biographies. Well-written and with the ability to make the very complex Chinese history clear to a non-specialist readership, Lin's work is important in two crucial ways. First, it is important for Chinese society and the Chinese people, to whom this now silenced history belongs. But this book is also an intellectual achievement because of the way in which it brings together theories of the human subject from both the Western and Chinese traditions. By proposing an intellectual analysis that is dialogical rather than confrontational, it advances our understanding of human life in a conversational way. In doing so, this book opens the way for a new generation of intercontinental thinkers.'

Jean-Baptiste Pettier is professor for the anthropology of East Asia at Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Germany