Two ways to think of haunting:
I’m finding myself looking at haunting in two different ways.
The first way — is more social and takes place within a group or society. This first where the past possesses the living, where the past becomes a part of the now.
Sticking with what I wrote here: When haunting happens in this first way something that was buried, covered up, hidden within the lifeworld becomes visible. A ghost/specter asserts itself saying “You thought you got rid of me when you buried me? Guess what! I’m still here!”
I think this type of haunting involves a number of bodies enduring a trauma that goes far beyond what any body can or should endure.
- This seems to be what Gordon is writing about in the book Ghostely Matters.
- An example might be how race based nationalism was, to some extent, covered over at the end of WWII. Recent events show it haunting us nowadays.
This type of haunting also makes me think about the work of Mark Fisher. It is the haunting of a monster we believe we vanquished, but we just hurt it.
The towns people (society) come together and fight the monstrous vampire. They set fire to the vampire’s castle and hear what they believe are the vampire’s death screams. But the vampires body is now just injured and buried under (covered up by) the ruins of the old castle. After this, the vampire haunts (hunts?) our nights. Sometimes we feel the presence of the vampire, and we think “That’s weird.” That weird feeling is feeling of being reminded that the vampire still exists… even though we would rather believe the vampire is dead and gone.
The second way — is far more personal, it takes place within the life of an individual subject. When the subject endures something traumatic, which their mind can’t really process or metabolize. When an individual body experiences power being used on it in a highly traumatic way.
Or… and I think this is a very interesting or… Or, when a body uses the power it has to inflict a trauma on another body or group of bodies.
The point I’m making here (or tying to make) is that individuals can and will become haunted when power is used/abused in a way that creates a trauma that is felt by another body.
Both the body on the giving and the body on the receiving end of a traumatic use/abuse of power are likely to become haunted, albeit it in very different ways.
At some point in the future I want to explore this idea of the two types of haunting that might occur.
- The way the victim of a use/abuse of power is haunted by what has been done to them.
- The way the perpatrator or a use/abuse of power is haunted by what they have done.
