Cultural traumas emerge when "members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to a horrendous event," but these "events do not, in and of themselves, create collective trauma." 1 Instead, the process of the "socially mediated attribution" is what determines its generic identity and the extent of its dissemination. 2 In this way, one could paraphrase the main argument of Jeffrey Alexander's theory of cultural trauma, which, despite its sociological anchoring, also creates a good

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... ion for an exploration of the artistic representations of these traumas: "Representation of trauma depends on constructing a compelling framework of cultural classification. In one sense, this is simply telling a new story." 3 The question is what kind of story this would be. According to Alexander, it is a master narrative that combines four different elements: the pain, the victim, the wider audience, and the attribution of responsibility. 4 Such a definition is insufficient from the perspective of the analysis of concrete representations of cul-1 Alexander 2012: 6 and 13. 2 Ibid.: 13. 3 Ibid.: 17. 4 Cf. ibid.: 17−19.