Trauma-heritage: towards a trauma-informed understanding of heritage

Over the last 25 years, a number of concepts that broadly centre on human suffering, conflict, and death have developed and proliferated in heritage studies. As a 'trauma and truth telling' discourse is embraced globally, there is a marked increase in the recognition of heritage connected to trauma, suffering and tragedy. Yet, despite the breadth and depth of research in this space, psychological trauma has been largely unexamined in the field of heritage studies. Therefore in this interdisciplinary paper, we ask: what is trauma? What is the relationship between trauma and heritage? And what does it mean to be trauma-informed? We introduce the concept of trauma-informed heritage (TIH) and suggest that heritage connected to traumatic events can be conceived as trauma-heritage (TH). Together, the TIH and TH concepts shine a light on heritage connected to trauma, which is multiplex and multiscalar. We offer this framework to better acknowledge and understand trauma and critically explore the relationships between trauma and heritage. This frame will provide awareness of the impact of trauma on people in the wake of traumatic events and help mitigate the risk of re-traumatising, now and for the future.