Ella Mintsis and Iryna Malyshivska, lecturers in the Department of English Philology at Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University, participated in the international scientific conference “Gender Violence and Trauma in Women’s Life Writing: Global Perspectives”, held at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania).
The university’s Department of Literature organised the event. The conference brought together researchers from around the world, including Ireland, Italy, India, the United States, and Norway, for an expert discussion on gender-based violence, trauma, memory, and ways of understanding and reflecting on women’s experiences in autobiographical texts.
Ella Mintsis and Iryna Malyshivska presented a joint report, “Disturbing Thoughts Still Possessed Me: Trauma and Memory in Holocaust Survivors’ Memoirs.”
The study was devoted to understanding traumatic experiences and mechanisms of memory in women’s testimonies about the Holocaust. The researchers focused on how personal memories convey the experience of violence, how trauma affects the narrative of the past, and what role women’s testimonies play in preserving the memory of a tragedy that left a deep mark on human history.
Women’s Holocaust memoirs are important material for studying the relationship between personal experience, memory, and its literary interpretation. Individual stories reveal the complex processes of recreating the experience, finding words to describe the trauma, and preserving testimonies of events that cannot be forgotten.
The lecturers of the Department of English Philology participate in the international scientific forum, presenting Carpathian University’s research at the international academic level and engaging in professional dialogue on topical humanitarian issues. Ukrainian researchers must participate in international discussions on traumatic experiences, historical memory, and human destinies, deepening the scientific understanding of topics that require special attention and responsibility.
