Reception of War Trauma in Art: Measures of Permissible Cruelty of Reflection

Abstract

The aim of the article is to study the reflection of percepting the war trauma in art in the context of the cruelty problem. Results. Ways of reception of the war topic issue in art are viewed, as well as conflict, struggle and manifestation are indicated. After conducting interviews and questionnaires, two paradigms are determined in grounding the war reception: 1) “two paradigms, possible solutions aimed at overcoming this conflict are determined. Scientific novelty. The ways of reception of the war trauma in art through reflection and adaptation are separated and analysed. Art is a safe refuge”, therefore, everything that can injure should be avoided, and during wartime, art should be exclusively entertaining (the leading directions are adaptation and allegorical escapist reflection without direct reference to traumatic topics), and 2) “Naturalistic art about war”, according to which art should be as serious and tragic as possible, faithfully convey the war horrors, avoid entertaining content (the ways of reception are naturalistic reflection and actions of art activism in manifestation options (murals) and struggle (actions of artistic resistance)). Conclusions. The conducted research shows that despite the fierce competition, the paradigms are not controversial but complementary in nature. They reflect different stages of reception and, accordingly, the aspirations of various social segments that go through these stages of trauma perception. If only one of these paradigms is defined as a generally accepted cultural policy, this can significantly discriminate some part of population: entertainment content traumatises those social segments that have undergone adaptation and are now actively working to overcome it. Therefore, they feel guilty for not being serious and sympathetic to suffering. Naturalistic art can traumatise those who suffered from the war, have not yet passed the stage of adaptation, have not yet received psychological help, do not know the means of stabilization, and seek to replenish their resource of positive emotions through art. As well as denying the entertainment component, avoiding cruelty in art is not a solution of the problem, because in times of war people are in different life situations, and turn to art with various purposes. The practice of warning about somewhat sensitive content is quite effective, helping art to find a proper audience and helping to overcome trauma.