Heroes and Hysterics: 'Partisan Hysteria' and Communist State-building in Yugoslavia after 1945
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Heroes and Hysterics : 'Partisan Hysteria' and Communist State-building in Yugoslavia after 1945. / Antic, Ana.
In: Social History of Medicine, Vol. 27, No. 2, 05.2014, p. 349-371.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Heroes and Hysterics
T2 - 'Partisan Hysteria' and Communist State-building in Yugoslavia after 1945
AU - Antic, Ana
PY - 2014/5
Y1 - 2014/5
N2 - This article investigates a novel type of war neurosis defined by Yugoslav psychiatrists in the aftermath of the Second World War. This uniquely Yugoslav war trauma-'partisan hysteria'aEuro"was diagnosed exclusively in Communist resistance soldiers-partisans-and did not manifest itself in the form of battle exhaustion or anxiety, as was the case in other armies. Rather, it demonstrated a heightened willingness to fight, and consisted of simulations of wartime battles. Yugoslav psychiatrists argued that 'partisan hysteria' most frequently affected uneducated and immature partisans, who were given important political responsibilities but experienced severe trauma due to their own inadequacy. I argue that 'partisan hysteria' served as an opportunity for upper-middle-class psychiatric professionals to criticise the increasing upward social mobility after the socialist revolution of 1945. Surprisingly, this touched upon an issue that had already provoked deep disquiet within the Communist Party, and resonated with the Party's own concerns regarding social mobility.
AB - This article investigates a novel type of war neurosis defined by Yugoslav psychiatrists in the aftermath of the Second World War. This uniquely Yugoslav war trauma-'partisan hysteria'aEuro"was diagnosed exclusively in Communist resistance soldiers-partisans-and did not manifest itself in the form of battle exhaustion or anxiety, as was the case in other armies. Rather, it demonstrated a heightened willingness to fight, and consisted of simulations of wartime battles. Yugoslav psychiatrists argued that 'partisan hysteria' most frequently affected uneducated and immature partisans, who were given important political responsibilities but experienced severe trauma due to their own inadequacy. I argue that 'partisan hysteria' served as an opportunity for upper-middle-class psychiatric professionals to criticise the increasing upward social mobility after the socialist revolution of 1945. Surprisingly, this touched upon an issue that had already provoked deep disquiet within the Communist Party, and resonated with the Party's own concerns regarding social mobility.
KW - war trauma
KW - psychoanalysis
KW - military psychiatry
KW - Communist revolution
U2 - 10.1093/shm/hku005
DO - 10.1093/shm/hku005
M3 - Journal article
VL - 27
SP - 349
EP - 371
JO - Social History of Medicine
JF - Social History of Medicine
SN - 0951-631X
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 255366555