Maternal Fright and South Slavic Oral Memory Traditions: Biosemiotics, Epigenetics, and Somatic Psychobiology Healing Practices

The Slavic term “maternal fright” is carved from chronic wars and violence towards
women and is a form of transgenerational trauma. The forgotten conflict, the Balkan War of
1991-95 in the former Yugoslav region, resulted in South Slavic female survivors in the
aftermath of war utilizing extensive cultural practices including oral memory traditions to
ameliorate their experiences of trauma with greater focus on eradicating maternal fright.
This review of interdisciplinary fields from biosemiotics, epigenetics, perinatal psychology,
oral memory theories, and neuroscience is used to frame the survivors’ trauma as intensified
learning and a space and place for healing. The tacit female knowledge embedded in South
Slavic oral memory traditions connects to complex biologically aligned practices. For
example, the body clock, or circadian rhythms, are regulated with oral memory practices to
maintain and heal trauma.