Epigenetics and Intergenerational Trauma: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Afterlives of Famine in War
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article discusses an interdisciplinary artist-researcher collaboration exploring biological and sociocultural afterlives of famine. The project was inspired by research on the Dutch Hunger Winter (1944–1945), which indicated transgenerational transmission of biological effects through epigenetics (i.e., that the effects of famine might be “heritable”). These findings are highly relevant in the context of contemporary wars where starvation is being used as a weapon of war. The article discusses how, through research and artistic practice, the authors explored the resonance between biological transmission and “postmemory” extrapolating from the Dutch case to explore the familial afterlife of traumatic wartime experience.
Source: Leonardo
DOI: 10.1162/leon.a.2630
Authors: Rachel Kerr, Anna Dumitriu
Institution: King's College London
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7127083893