Loss

This module explores the similarities and differences in the experience of loss as a result of the conflict.

The DVD resource material in this module is divided into three strands which look respectively at:

• Personal Loss: Perspectives of people who’ve experienced the personal loss of a loved one.

• Aspects of Loss: Perspectives of people who have experienced other aspects of personal loss: loss of limbs, loss of liberty, loss of innocence/childhood, and secondary loss.

• Collective Loss: Perspectives of people who experienced loss in a collective but polarised way or comment on that phenomenon.

Strand 1 grounds the module in the intensely personal experience of losing a loved one. The piece of film introducing it dramatises a family member ‘breaking the news’ of the violent death of a loved one. The strand continues with the testimonies of people who lost loved ones. Strand 2 extends the exploration by looking at other aspects of personal loss. Finally Strand 3 explores how loss was experienced collectively and how this reinforces a deep sense of loss, exclusive to the particular community, thereby increasing polarisation.