- January 25, 2023
Je n'existais plus (I no longer existed), the worlds of control and disengagement - Novel - Pascale Jamoulle - La Découverte, 2021
A fascinating work of anthropology, this book explores and seeks to understand the systems of hold, the passages from one hold to another, and the dynamics of emancipation and "release". It crosses investigative fields (family, couple, care, world of work and underground economy) and the accounts of witnesses, all of whom have also been affected by signs of complex PTSD. This anthropological investigation clearly explains the various knots that enable the establishment and continuity of the hold. The testimonies of each of her interviewees, caught up in one or more hold systems in the course of their lives, help us to understand the initial fragilities, the individual and collective reinforcements, and the strategies put in place to escape the hold. Full of humanity and kindness, this book opens up paths of resilience and rebound, as well as clear explanations of the corporate mechanisms that enable victims to escape guilt and shame. The book also provides the keys to breaking out of the reductive "victim-aggressor" reading grid, and underlines that the blindness and silence of those around us are also essential components of the hold. This book is for everyone, as it is written with clarity and in a very accessible language. Peppered with personal accounts, it offers food for thought on recovery, notably through autobiographical narrative, which the author describes as an antidote to the destruction of subjects and the ruin of their words.
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