1. Trauma Theory Literary Lens

2. Definition of Trauma Sigmund Freud defined trauma as “a wound inflicted not upon the body but upon the mind” Trauma is only healed when you “have someone truly in your corner”

3. Trauma Literature “The need to tell and retell the story of the traumatic experience, to make it ‘real’ both to the victim and to the community” AND “to tell a reality or truth that is not otherwise available”

4. Examples of Human-Design Trauma War trauma Sexual/domestic trauma Child abuse

5. Victim vs Perpetrator Perpetrator relies on silence and secrecy If that does not work, the credibility of the victim is attacked

6. Example of victim blaming? Example: the Chris Brown/Rihanna situation Boston Public Health Commission survey of teens in Boston: – 46% blamed Rihanna – Where do kids learn this?

7. Assumptions of Trauma Theory Trauma impels people to withdraw and to seek close relationships simultaneously Victims tend to have intense but unstable relationships with partners When trauma caused by human sources (war, rape, incest, abuse, torture) readers are caught between the victim and the perpetrator, especially if text allows the perpetrator “story” of his or her own

8. What to do? Are these effects on the victim in the text? No sense of safety Sense of autonomy violated Sense of invasion and loss of control Total humiliation Doubt of self and others Sense of community and faith damaged

9. Big Question What trauma has occurred to characters in the text and/or its creator and how has that trauma affected them?

10. To This Day – Shane Koyczan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92Dfn PY

11. Journal Tell me how you understand Trauma Theory Tell me what you get when you apply the big question to our video