Severed Voices: Radio and the Mediation of Trauma in the Eichmann Trial

Citation:

Pinchevski, A., & Liebes, T. . (2010). Severed Voices: Radio and the Mediation of Trauma in the Eichmann Trial. Public Culture, 22(2), 265-291. Retrieved from https://read.dukeupress.edu/public-culture/article/22/2/265/85712/Severed-Voices-Radio-and-the-Mediation-of-Trauma

Abstract:

This essay considers the role of the radio in the mediation of trauma during the 1961 Eichmann trial. It is argued that radio broadcasts from the courtroom occasioned a transformation in the status of Holocaust survivors in Israel, who had been previously seen as deeply traumatized, unable or unwilling to speak about their experiences. Taking to the airwaves facilitated a shift in the conditions by which survivors' testimonies could find public articulation. As such, the Eichmann trial provides a compelling case of the significance of media in transforming private traumas into a collective or cultural trauma.