Trauma in Contemporary Literature analyzes contemporary narrative texts in English in the light of trauma theory, including essays by scholars of different countries who approach trauma from a variety of perspectives. The book analyzes and applies the most relevant concepts and themes discussed in trauma theory, such as the relationship between individual and collective trauma, historical trauma, absence vs. loss, the roles of perpetrator and victim, dissociation, nachtraglichkeit, transgenerational trauma, the process of acting out and working through, introjection and incorporation, mourning and melancholia, the phantom and the crypt, postmemory and multidirectional memory, shame and the affects, and the power of resilience to overcome trauma. Significantly, the essays not only focus on the phenomenon of trauma and its diverse manifestations but, above all, consider the elements that challenge the aporias of trauma, the traps of stasis and repetition, in order to reach beyond the confines of the traumatic condition and explore the possibilities of survival, healing and recovery.

About the Author

Marita Nadal is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and German Philology at the University of Zaragoza, Spain.

Monica Calvo is Lecturer in the Department of English and German Philology at the University of Zaragoza, Spain.

Reviews

"This collection of essays, beginning with Cathy Caruth's poetic, lyrical, and beautifully crafted reading of the metaphorics of ashes, moves through literatures of the traumas of apartheid South Africa, colonial violence, the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the Holocaust, and 9/11 to analyze the global nature of the worst experiences of our times." - Brett Ashley Kaplan, University of Illinois, USA

Book Information
ISBN 9781138547919
Author Marita Nadal
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g