The Invisibility of War Trauma: Mental Health, Violence and Literature in Interwar Britain and Italy

The Invisibility of War Trauma: Mental Health, Violence, and Literature in Interwar Britain and Italy is a hybrid seminar by Dr Stefano Serafini organised by the Institute for Medical Humanities’ Violence, Trauma and Memory Research Strand and the International Centre for Moral Injury.

The seminar examines a largely overlooked literary figure of the First World War: the veteran who appears to return to civilian life unharmed and socially functional, while the psychological consequences of war emerge later through forms of violence that are not recognised as connected to the conflict. Focusing on interwar literary texts from Britain and Italy, the talk explores how literature became a crucial space for representing invisible war trauma, the afterlife of violence, and the limits of contemporary medical, social, and political discourses on mental health.

Event Program

Speaker:
Dr Stefano Serafini
University of Padua

4:00 PM – 4:45 PM
Presentation & Talk
The Invisibility of War Trauma: Mental Health, Violence, and Literature in Interwar Britain and Italy

4:45 PM – 5:15 PM
Discussion & Questions
Chaired by Katrin Wehling-Giorgio, Co-Director of the Institute for Medical Humanities, and Brian Powers, Executive Director of the International Centre for Moral Injury.

5:15 PM – 5:45 PM
Drinks & Networking

The event is free to attend and will be held in hybrid format, with the virtual link shared on the day.