Stimulate the Senses

David (Norway)

[writing experiment]

Here is a bit of writing that could fit into the 'Stimulate' exercise:

Memories were often expressed in visual terms: ‘What I remember is the tragedy […], a city in flames and constant alarm. A time of not knowing when there would be another attack, another bomb; the sensation of going out in the streets and finding corpses lying there’ (male schoolteacher, late 40s).

Memories were also connected to sound: ‘there was the noise of the bombs and the ambulances around the city all the time; there was constant tension’ (taxi driver, early 50s). Smell also played a significant role in the accounts of direct witnesses: ‘I remember going to school […] and there were corpses there, I could smell the blood, but I had to keep walking because I did not want to see if the body was of someone I knew’ (unemployed man, early 40s). Intertwined with memories of suffering were recollections of considerable economic activity: ‘a lot of pain, a lot of fear, many murders, but also a lot of money’ (housewife, late 60s).