From 9th-11th of October 2024, four members of SFU’s Trauma Institute had the honour of participating in the interdisciplinary Marginalities Conference, organised by the research group “Margini. Spazi, potere, canone/Margins. Spaces, Power, Canon” and held in Rome, Italy.
As the name suggests, the conference was centred around the idea of living on the margin. Yet, despite the margins of society often being a place that breeds societal exclusion, the members of the conference were challenged to use this sense of being othered as an opportunity for empowerment, awareness and resistance. Despite being a conference filled with largely literary academics, there were also a number of non-literary topics discussed such as applying linguistics in studies on healthcare, including mental healthcare, intergenerational trauma experienced by First Nations in Canada and trauma resulting from non-physical domestic violence against women.
The SFU Trauma Institute was amongst those who made non-literary contributions and took this opportunity to bring the psychological dimension of marginality to this space, with a panel titled “On the margins of the society: Loss, (re)definition of the Self, and identity” where they presented on topics largely focused around the psychological and traumatic effects of various groups that exist on the margins of our society.
The members of the panel themselves were largely representative of the topic, being not only a fully female team, but a female team made up of immigrants who themselves have struggled with the reality of ever feeling out of place in their new found country. The presentations were therefore deeply personal to the panel members and spoke to not only their experiences, but the experiences of others in similar positions.
Our first speaker, Enikő Darabos, provided us with a bridge from the literary world, exploring the book Parallel Stories by Hungarian author Péter Nádas, giving us insights into both the LGBTIA+ community and the often overlooked bond between man and animal. Other members of the panel dove more deeply into psychological and trauma based topics such as the marginalisation of BIPOC women in the corporate world which was tackled by Gina Hargitay. Erzsébet Fanni Tóth delved into the often psychologically overlooked immigrant community who carry the debilitating weight of integrating into a new society. Kamila Midor tackled the trauma associated with navigating disenfranchised grief resulting from an unacknowledged or an ambiguous loss.
The conference was well attended and the SFU panel gained an enthusiastic reception, with their audience attesting to how well their topics complimented the otherwise mainly literary presentations.