Trauma Theory “Physical pain has no voice but when it finds a voice, a story will be told.”

Trauma Theory O If trauma natural disaster easy to ID with victims O If trauma is from human design witness is caught between victim and perpetrator O Abuse, PTSD, etc. O Easier to side with perpetrator because all asked is to do NOTHING O Perpetrator relies on silence and secrecy; if they fail, attack credibility of victim O People who try to help victim—professionals—come in for same suspicion as victim O Very hard to face perpetrator alone; need supportive environment

Trauma Theory O Society can’t decide whether patients of psychological trauma deserve care and respect or contempt; soldiers called malingerers or exaggerators; women and children said to be fabricating abuse

Trauma Theory O Sexual Abuse O Taken seriously ONLY if there is an environment that does not subjugate women O Child Abuse O Taken seriously ONLY if there is an environment that believes in the rights of children O U. S. won’t sign international declaration for children’s rights O Combat O Taken seriously ONLY if there is a movement that opposes sacrifice of the young to war O Cult of war as glorious could no longer stand up

3 times in the 20 th Century when psychological trauma surfaced into public consciousness 1. hysteria in late 19th c. France then Eng.; disorder in women at time when cultures in Europe were anti-clerical and republican 2. shellshock/combat neurosis in England/US after WWI, then peak after Vietnam; surfaced because of collapse of cult of war as glorious/heroic 3. sexual/domestic violence in mid-late 20th c., arising from 2 nd wave of feminism in Western Europe and US

Effects on Victim O no sense of safety in the world around you O sense of autonomy violated at basic level of bodily integrity O No agency, control, over body O sense of invasion, defilement, loss of control O total humiliation O doubt of self and others=huge O sense of community and faith damaged

Trauma Theory O Trauma is worst if individual is an active participant in violent death or war atrocities for soldiers. even once O For women/children, worst if actively abused even once

Trauma Theory O PARADOX = O trauma impels people to withdraw and to seek close relationships simultaneously O victims act out isolation OR cling to others O victims tend to have intense but unstable relationships of partner to partner

Trauma Theory O Alice Miller, psychoanalyst who worked with Freud until he disavowed his original belief that women who were “hysterical” had been abused by their fathers or some father-figure. O Healing O depends on whether there is someone absolutely “in the corner” of the victim O person does not have to be in the victim’s present O without this, no healing, no progress

Trauma Theory O Freud O Defined trauma as: a wound inflicted not on the body but on the mind O Response to unexpected violence

Trauma Theory O Trends in Literary Trauma Theory-Michelle Balaev O Trauma is not “locatable” O In its nature to haunt the survivor O Through the haunting you get to it O Allows for people to say it didn’t happen O Can only be known through flashback O “timeless photographic negative” O Interrupts consciousness

Trauma Theory O Trends in Literary Trauma Theory-Michelle Balaev transferred O Trauma can be transferred to non-traumatized groups (same race, gender, etc.) O Harriet Jacobs O Morrison’s “source” O Confession does not have to be verbal (quilts, tapestry, etc.)

Trauma Theory O Trends in Literary Trauma Theory-Michelle Balaev transferred O Trauma can be transferred to non-traumatized groups (same race, gender, etc.) O Harriet Jacobs O Morrison’s “source” O Confession does not have to be verbal (quilts, tapestry, etc.)

Trauma Theory O Trends in Literary Trauma Theory-Michelle Balaev O Role of place O Not just physical O Organizes memory, feeling O Place vs. site O Site: Apartment 12 O Context, culture, value about X O Envelope in which trauma resides, the victim is then sucked in

Trauma Theory O In literature O Lurches protagonist into a profound, inquisitive state O Process of questioning the plot O If can’t question their way through, reconstruction is impossible

Trauma Theory Personal Loss Historical Loss O Dealt with differently O Based on individual person O Loss experienced by your ancestors O Didn’t experience so it can’t be loss

O Victim O A person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event O Perpetrator O A person who carries out or commits a harmful, illegal, or immoral action O Bystander O A person who is present at an event or incident but does not take part O Consider specifically the three terms in relation to 1921 and How do these terms fit?