ANALYZING CULTURAL TRAUMA- Hasidic Community through the Lens of Netflix Film series: Unorthodox

English Literature

Unorthodox is a Netflix film series that talks about the Hasidic Community. The drama series is based on Deborah Feldman's memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. It highlights the aftermath of the Holocaust and its impact on developing the ground rules of the Hasidic community. There are intersectional themes within the series. But this paper will focus on the origins of the community. Cultural lineage, its growth, strength, and weaknesses are viewed on the basis of emotional and spiritual bondage through distributed trauma. Within the structure of the film series, the after-effects of the Holocaust, leading to the existence of the Hasidic Community as it is today are analyzed. The psychological effects post-war, the beginning of a newer and stronger belief are all bound to this experience. An analysis on these grounds takes place based on the understanding of the Trauma theory within its primary text. The cultural significance of passing over a legacy based on the grounds of a shared (collective) traumatic experience is researched. In other words, it is a critical analysis of how much influence a severe historical trauma can have on its generations. Their lifestyle, traditions, rituals, and beliefs will be looked at from the perspective of Cathy Caruth’s findings in trauma theory. The societal factors that influence and contribute to the Hasidic way of existence can also be studied through this paper.

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