Paper short abstract:

This paper outlines three broad categories of subjectivity that emerged out of the work of traumatic storytelling among victims of apartheid-era political violence—virtuous, virtuoso, and virtual subjectivities.

Paper long abstract:

This paper outlines three broad categories of subjectivity that emerged out of the work of traumatic storytelling among victims of apartheid-era political violence—virtuous, virtuoso, and virtual subjectivities. The notion of the 'virtuous victim', for example, was critical in shaping not only the content of the stories victims told but also the ways in which these stories shaped their sense of their moral

selves, and the moral, social and political projects in which they were engaged. The 'virtuoso victim' was one who not only had the right 'moral to the story' but also had the capacity to deliver an engaging performance. As jarring as the notion of 'performance' might feel in relation to expressions of traumatic experiences, the performative expectations experienced by victims were real and profound, and had significant consequences for not only what kinds of stories they told, but also the ways in which these stories shaped their sense of who they were and what they could expect in return for their narrative labor. Finally, the 'virtual victim' describes a form of subjectivity rooted in the alienation of traumatic narratives, and the circulation of these stories in global "circuits of suffering" (McLagan, 2005). This idea also captures the ways in which victims came to experience the connection between storytelling and registration with the state and other institutions of economic and political power. The paper concludes with a reflection on the ways virtuous, virtuoso and virtual forms of subjectivity reinforced a troubling and constraining political landscape for victims after apartheid.