“Tragic Optimism”:
The phrase “tragic optimism,” has gained currency of late. Is it just trendy pop psych or does it point to something really important and lasting?
As a Google NGram shows, the phrase came into use in the early twentieth century but only gained significant circulation after the Second World War, perhaps largely through the works of the Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, who used it to refer to the “ability to maintain hope and find meaning in life despite its pain, loss, and suffering.” This cast of mind, Frankl believed, produces resilience, and resilience helps a person survive even the worst of things. Don’t try to tell a Holocaust survivor that the phrase is just pop psych.
After September 11th the term helped focus attention on the question why some people who had lost loved ones or had in other ways been damaged by the attacks showed more resilience than others. Those who recovered best, it seems, didn’t deny the loss and misery they had experienced but found in it, somehow, something that made life worth hanging on to. Anecdotes from survivors have now been backed up by empirical studies as Emily Esfahani Smith has pointed out in guest essays in the New York Times.
“Optimism” may not be the right word, but the contrast to despondent pessimism is crucial. The Covid-19 pandemic has again shown how important resilience is, and the crucial fact that it derives not from denial of loss and suffering – just the opposite: it comes about when one accepts the reality of suffering and loss and hangs on despite it all.
Individuals vary greatly in tragic optimism. Some people seem to have it full measure from the start; for others a good shrink can help develop this capacity.
But what about whole cultures? Do they too vary in this respect? Are some more resilient than others? If so, why and how? Are there cultural practices that help members of a society achieve tragic optimism?
I’ll be thinking about these questions and welcome the thoughts and suggestions of readers of this blog. You can reach me at:
[email protected]
Note: Viktor Frankl’s approach may be gleaned from his essay "The Case for Tragic Optimism." a postscript to his book Man’s Search for Meaning (1984). Recently the phrase has been used to good advantage in Emily Esfahani Smith’s work, especially “On Coronavirus Lockdown? Look for Meaning not Happiness“ in the New York Times for April 7, 2020.
May 6, 2021
The phrase “tragic optimism,” has gained currency of late. Is it just trendy pop psych or does it point to something really important and lasting?
As a Google NGram shows, the phrase came into use in the early twentieth century but only gained significant circulation after the Second World War, perhaps largely through the works of the Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, who used it to refer to the “ability to maintain hope and find meaning in life despite its pain, loss, and suffering.” This cast of mind, Frankl believed, produces resilience, and resilience helps a person survive even the worst of things. Don’t try to tell a Holocaust survivor that the phrase is just pop psych.
After September 11th the term helped focus attention on the question why some people who had lost loved ones or had in other ways been damaged by the attacks showed more resilience than others. Those who recovered best, it seems, didn’t deny the loss and misery they had experienced but found in it, somehow, something that made life worth hanging on to. Anecdotes from survivors have now been backed up by empirical studies as Emily Esfahani Smith has pointed out in guest essays in the New York Times.
“Optimism” may not be the right word, but the contrast to despondent pessimism is crucial. The Covid-19 pandemic has again shown how important resilience is, and the crucial fact that it derives not from denial of loss and suffering – just the opposite: it comes about when one accepts the reality of suffering and loss and hangs on despite it all.
Individuals vary greatly in tragic optimism. Some people seem to have it full measure from the start; for others a good shrink can help develop this capacity.
But what about whole cultures? Do they too vary in this respect? Are some more resilient than others? If so, why and how? Are there cultural practices that help members of a society achieve tragic optimism?
I’ll be thinking about these questions and welcome the thoughts and suggestions of readers of this blog. You can reach me at:
[email protected]
Note: Viktor Frankl’s approach may be gleaned from his essay "The Case for Tragic Optimism." a postscript to his book Man’s Search for Meaning (1984). Recently the phrase has been used to good advantage in Emily Esfahani Smith’s work, especially “On Coronavirus Lockdown? Look for Meaning not Happiness“ in the New York Times for April 7, 2020.
May 6, 2021