’s reading
05.04.171 is the fourth section of Ettinger’s reading and focuses on the idea that psychological identities, especially those based in trauma, can be relational and dynamic. Specifically, this chapter examines the relationship between trauma, identity, and affect, and how they shape each other in multiple ways. The chapter argues that affect itself has multiple layers and affects how we perceive and negotiate our identity, and trauma can further complicate this process. It also scrutinizes how trauma can be tangled with familial relationships and transgenerational transmissions, as well as how it can create instability and a lack of continuity in identity. Ettinger also considers how subjectivity is formed in relationship to the social world, suggesting that through establishing an understanding of relational dynamics, one can better comprehend individual affective experiences of identity.