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Copyright of Larq Journal for Philosophy, Linguistics & Social Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Adverse childhood experiences research has shown that supportive and secure attachment experiences can buffer against stress exposure during periods of high brain development and promote new patterns of tolerance to stress. This article draws on attachment theory to critically examine the importance of positive relationships for youth who have experienced trauma in promoting the development of neural pathways associated with social and emotional well-being, self-regulation, and stress tolerance. Grounded in a neurobiological understanding of disrupted attachments in the wake of trauma, this article examines the role of sport as a form of tolerable stress. In the presence of supportive relationships (coaches, mentors, peers), sport is uniquely suited to introduce stress in manageable doses and promote body awareness, regulation, and cognitive capacities to offset the long-term negative impacts of toxic stress on developing youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In her 2010 article "Aesthetic Wit(h)nessing in the Era of Trauma", Griselda Pollock lamented the aperture between psychology, particularly that of PTSD, and esthetics in the search to bear witness to traumatic experience. This article explores the gray area that exists when the esthetic and the traumatic converge, arguing that such areas exist not only as direct representations of the difficulty of narrativizing trauma as described by such theorists as Cathy Caruth, Onno van der Hart, and Bessel van der Kolk, but also simultaneously as windows into the moments of what Dominick LaCapra calls "the sublime object of endless melancholia and impossible mourning". Postmodernism is argued to be the organic choice of voicing traumatic retellings, and close readings of John Hersey's proto-postmodern Hiroshima (1946), Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried (1992), and David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest (1996) work to highlight the intersections of trauma, postmodern literature, and esthetics; or, in Wallace's case, theoretical discussions of traumatic tropes as facilitated by the postmodern tradition. In drawing attention to this tripartite convergence, this article hopes to continue in the vein of scholarship that reaffirms the need for evermore research in the field of trauma studies as well as substantiate a claim of the heightened importance of postmodern literature in the 21st century—an epoch indelibly marked by trauma, as noted by Pollock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation utilized the Midlife in the United States Survey (N = 3,258) to assess the relationships between sexual assault, sense of control, and financial stability. Age of first sexual assault and sexual assault revictimization were also considered in analyses of sexual assault survivors' data. Results revealed consistent associations between experiences of sexual assault and revictimization with lower financial stability and suggest that sense of control may be an indirect mechanism linking these variables. Findings have policy relevance and practical implications for practitioners. Restoring sexual assault victims' internal loci of control may promote more positive financial outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovid's depiction of rape in the Metamorphoses has been interpreted as empathetic and proto-feminist at one extreme and pornographic at the other. In assessing this question, the current paper turns to trauma theory, a psychoanalytic methodology of growing popularity in the field of Classics, to demonstrate how Ovid depicts sexual violence and its aftermath with psychological acuity by emphasizing the mental, emotional, and physical experiences of rape survivors. I focus on the myth of Io, with parallels drawn to Daphne, Syrinx, Callisto, Proserpina, and Philomela. While cautiously supporting "optimistic" interpretations of the poem, this reading proves useful, regardless of authorial intent, in developing empathy-driven research and instruction in Classics courses and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the potential for retraumatization among survivors of sexual violence engaged in research, we aimed to provide pertinent knowledge and exemplification of the integration of trauma-informed practice to research with survivors. Grounded in trauma-informed care, we discuss the need for trauma-informed research, drawing upon experiences and data from a longitudinal case-control study on sexual violence. Through trauma-informed research settings, we can improve research experiences for survivors of sexual violence, as demonstrated by positive experiences of participants in The THRIVE Study. By meeting the needs of survivors, researchers can increase participation while maximizing the research quality and advancement of research.

This study analyzes the novel Ghostwritten by David Mitchell through the lens of trauma theory, a relatively new approach to literary analysis. Ghostwritten has been studied from a variety of perspectives, including postmodernism and globalization, but trauma theory has not yet been applied. The purpose of this study is to examine how the novel depicts trauma’s effects on individuals. Utilizing Cathy Caruth’s trauma theory, this study focuses on three central concepts: “delayed and unconscious responses”. The analysis indicates that the novel depicts trauma as an experience that defies representation and comprehension, with inadequate language conveying the full extent of such experiences. In addition, the novel emphasizes the paradox of testimony, in which trauma survivors are urged to speak about their experiences but find it difficult to do so in a meaningful and coherent manner. Thus, the findings of this study contribute to the ongoing dialogue about trauma and its depiction in literature.

This research paper aims to provide a comparative and critical view of the psychological and childhood traumas presented in both The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohen Corasanti and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in order to better understand how trauma defines personal and communal identity. Following the theoretical perspectives from Suzanne Keen, Jeffrey C. Alexander, Neil J. Smelser, Ron Eyerman, and Piotr Sztompka, the analysis explores the symbols and meanings of trauma in these novels. This is due to the fact that Keen's narrative empathy theory is helpful to explain how the characters' emotional worlds are built and thus, the reader gets a better insight of the characters' possible psychological traumas. Cultural trauma theory by Alexander deals with the loss of a collective identity due to conflict and displacement in The Almond Tree. Similarly Smelser theory of Collective behaviour focuses on the social reaction to the trauma in both novels. Eyerman's social memory theory focuses on the process of remembering and cultural distribution of traumatic experiences and Sztompka's social trauma theory educates about collective conditioning, shock and loss in culture. In doing so, this paper shows how literature reveals the role of the written and spoken word in mitigating or magnifying trauma, along with the ways in which literature elicits concern, identification, and additional layers of oligophyleptic acculturation in depicting human survival or perseverance across the life span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws together insights from trauma theory and the conversation in Psalms scholarship known as "Psalmenexegese und Psalterexegese" or as the question of "shape and shaping" to propose a reading of Pss 136–139 as a pathway to trauma healing. This sequence of psalms moves participants toward healing by preparing them for the work of trauma healing through a mantra-like focus (Ps 136), unleashing the full range of human stress-responses to trauma (Ps 137), directly answering each of these stress-responses (Ps 138), and then—in a dramatic resolution—characterizing God as intimately concerned with human biology and life while continuing to acknowledge ongoing experiences of pain and injustice (Ps 139). The article illustrates the proposed framework for trauma healing with examples from pastoral work with asylum-seekers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes that Muhammad Hanif's Our Lady of Alice Bhatti foregrounds the concept of shame and explores how doubly marginalized Christian woman Alice Bhatti develops shame resilience in a patriarchal society. By identifying the patterns of oppression and marginalization and breaking the barriers of silence, Alice Bhatti becomes resilient to shame-induced trauma. Consequently, she re-affirms her self-identity against the one prescribed by the society. This paper aims to explore the trauma and shame that emerge as a result of alienation because of social stigma. It further displays how such victims can stand against the atrocities of others by recognizing and redefining their identities. By building upon Judith Herman's trauma theory, we intend to investigate how doubly marginalized Christian women in patriarchal societies are subjected to trauma. Moreover, Brene Brown's notion of shame resilience will be deployed to unveil the shame resilience of the marginalized group. The victims of trauma and shame often become resilient by creating safe bonds with their selves and with others, which further helps them move past their shame in a dignified manner, if not completely escape it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caring adult relationships play a vital role in buffering the consequences of childhood maltreatment. However, many young people living in foster care have few relationships with trusted adults. Children and youth in foster care experience higher rates of maltreatment and trauma-related sequelae, including PTSD and associated conditions, and the trauma of removal from caregivers can itself intensify these effects. These impacts can be especially pronounced for foster children in preadolescence, when support from adults is critical for various aspects of development, including social and emotional learning. In this article I synthesize foundational and more recent research on adult-child relationships using attachment and trauma theory perspectives, pointing in particular to evidence about relational density, relational permanence, and placement stability. I argue that a clinical social worker's central intervention in working with preadolescent foster children must be to build, coordinate, and participate in a relationally dense network of adult support. This network should consist of a small group of adults who know and interact with the child at different points in a day and week. In addition to a foster parent, it may include family members, a school social worker or counselor, teachers, or other school staff such as an administrator or reading specialist. Members meet regularly to discuss and support each other's interactions with the child, build communication skills, and prepare for continuity even across placement disruptions. I conclude by discussing local and state policy interventions necessary for supporting rather than undermining such an approach to active coordination of relational density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reciprocal relationship between cultural trauma studies and psychoanalytic discourse on the one hand, and trauma studies and fictional representations of trauma on the other, has been commented on by scholars within the field of literary studies. What connects the representation of trauma in cultural trauma theory, trauma fiction, and psychoanalysis is that it is regarded as something that overwhelms an individual's capacities for processing and functioning. However, while cultural trauma theory has come under scrutiny for prioritizing too narrow a view of trauma and its representations, the considerable critiques of and revisions to Freud's theories, developed in the 1980/90s, have been mostly ignored by cultural trauma theorists. In this interdisciplinary article, we draw on relational psychoanalytic perspectives to demonstrate how relational revisions to psychoanalytic theory and techniques, as well as views on dissociation, can offer new perspectives for approaching literary works of fiction, such as the realist novel, which engage with the subject of trauma outside of established trauma conventions. We demonstrate that trauma novels by Lisa Appignanesi and Aminatta Forna parallel these revisions to psychoanalytic theory and techniques, allowing for a more pluralistic and nuanced representation of responses to trauma and suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book of Isaiah is one of the world’s oldest surviving resistance literature. Isaiah 13 describes God who collects an army for the battle against Babylon which will lead to Babylon’s utter desolation and destruction. Isaiah 13:16 deeply shocks the reader when it states that the wives of the Babylonians shall be raped and ravished by the men of this marching army. A literary, contextual, and historical methodology will be applied. Integrated insights from trauma studies will be used as a multidisciplinary approach to engage with these texts. A trauma perspective helps the reader to look squarely at the violence that the Bible often advocates and it can only become comprehensible if understood as the reaction of a dominated people to their domination. The oracles against the nations express the hope of freedom and return to their land, but also the hope of a triumphant reversal of the role of oppressors and oppressed. Insights from trauma studies suggest that these features transform this oracle into a work of resistance, recovery and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study leverages trauma theory to examine Xuan Ding's 宣鼎 (1832–1880) Yeyu qiudeng lu 夜雨秋燈錄 (Recorded on Rainy Nights by Autumn Lamp), a collection of classical tales published in the aftermath of the Taiping Civil War (1850–1864). The analysis here delves into the concept of dehumanization, typically understood as the denial of one's intrinsic human traits by other people. In the late Qing context, dehumanization can occur when an individual is perceived as deviating from the path of self-cultivation, or as inept at or resistant to fulfilling prescribed social and gender roles, often leading to social ostracism. Xuan Ding conveys both the acute trauma of the Taiping war and the quotidian, gender- and class-based traumas imposed by late Qing society through the dramatic depiction of characters who undergo a metamorphosis into subhuman forms. This study also shows that in his preface to the collection, Xuan engages in the artistic dehumanization of his own literary persona. From this strategic position of moral self-exile, he is able to both provide a platform for dissenting voices and suggest the therapeutic potential of writing during times of suffering. This study explores how one writer's depiction of the trauma of dehumanization navigates and illuminates the nuanced boundary between the human and the nonhuman as understood at this time. By investigating the complex interplay of dehumanization and trauma, and their manifestation in literature, this study invites consideration of culturally specific nuances within trauma theory and opens up avenues for comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lamentations 2:20 and 4:10 are biblical texts described as ‘texts of terror’ as well as traumatic biblical texts where ‘tender-hearted women have eaten their children’ (NLT). As Lamentations 2:20 and 4:10 mention a traumatic event, a trauma biblical approach will be utilised to read these biblical texts. The biblical trauma hermeneutics challenges the traditional and judgemental reading of traumatic events as well as the social, cultural and intellectual power of those who tell the stories of the traumatised victims in the Bible and contemporary society. This study will demonstrate the ways in which trauma theory when applied to reading these biblical texts, challenges and subverts the narrator’s version of these biblical texts. Ultimately, the mothers in these biblical texts will be presented as victims of biblical collective trauma rather than as mere murderers and eaters of their children. Transdisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This study displays intersections between Psychology and Biblical Studies. In this article, Trauma Theory is used to read and interpret Lamentations 2:20 and 4:10. This study is interdisciplinary because I make use of psychology and trauma scholars to read Old Testament texts.

In her 2010 article “Aesthetic Wit(h)nessing in the Era of Trauma”, Griselda Pollock lamented the aperture between psychology, particularly that of PTSD, and esthetics in the search to bear witness to traumatic experience. This article explores the gray area that exists when the esthetic and the traumatic converge, arguing that such areas exist not only as direct representations of the difficulty of narrativizing trauma as described by such theorists as Cathy Caruth, Onno van der Hart, and Bessel van der Kolk, but also simultaneously as windows into the moments of what Dominick LaCapra calls “the sublime object of endless melancholia and impossible mourning”. Postmodernism is argued to be the organic choice of voicing traumatic retellings, and close readings of John Hersey’s proto-postmodern Hiroshima (1946), Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (1992), and David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest (1996) work to highlight the intersections of trauma, postmodern literature, and esthetics; or, in Wallace’s case, theoretical discussions of traumatic tropes as facilitated by the postmodern tradition. In drawing attention to this tripartite convergence, this article hopes to continue in the vein of scholarship that reaffirms the need for evermore research in the field of trauma studies as well as substantiate a claim of the heightened importance of postmodern literature in the 21st century—an epoch indelibly marked by trauma, as noted by Pollock.

The book of Isaiah is one of the world’s oldest surviving resistance literature. Isaiah 13 describes God who collects an army for the battle against Babylon which will lead to Babylon’s utter desolation and destruction. Isaiah 13:16 deeply shocks the reader when it states that the wives of the Babylonians shall be raped and ravished by the men of this marching army. A literary, contextual, and historical methodology will be applied. Integrated insights from trauma studies will be used as a multidisciplinary approach to engage with these texts. A trauma perspective helps the reader to look squarely at the violence that the Bible often advocates and it can only become comprehensible if understood as the reaction of a dominated people to their domination. The oracles against the nations express the hope of freedom and return to their land, but also the hope of a triumphant reversal of the role of oppressors and oppressed. Insights from trauma studies suggest that these features transform this oracle into a work of resistance, recovery and resilience.

Trauma is undoubtedly one of the terms that best describe the experiences of the present and the previous centuries. The term comes to the agenda with the damages occurring in human psychology in parallel with the destructions caused by the modern war concept of the twentieth century. Following its official recognition by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980, trauma has set a new focus in literature, psychology, and history with the studies of theoreticians such as Cathy Caruth, Shoshana Felman, and Dominick LaCapra in the 1990s. From Freud to Caruth, the argument that trauma cannot be directly experienced, therefore, is inexplicable, nevertheless, the necessity of being told for recovery determine the tension at the center of the trauma theory. However, since the beginning of the twenty-first century, contemporary theorists such as Ruth Leys, Steff Craps, and Michelle Balaev criticise the definition and structure of trauma by Caruth and others. Contemporary trauma theories, known as the pluralist model due to the diversity and differences it contains, reject the argument that trauma is unspeakable and assert that traditional trauma theory is Western-centred. Therefore, they offer more inclusive and multicultural trauma models. Thanks to its power to challenge boundaries such as voicing the unspeakable and imagining the unimaginable in real life, literature becomes the most visited platform by trauma theories. Both the traditional trauma theorists pioneered by Caruth and the pluralist model frequently appeal to literature. Based on this interaction, the present study sets out to examine the relationship between trauma and literature in light of traditional and contemporary trauma theories after a brief discussion of the genealogy of trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Philosophy, Culture & Political Science is the property of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There should be no dispute that war causes trauma. In this article, the Nahum text serves as an example of how people suffering the threat of war experience trauma because of oppression, fear, and loss. To facilitate the discussion, a selection of texts was made and analysed to show how the Assyrian threat and invasion resulted in trauma for the people of Judah. A literary, contextual, and historical methodology was applied to analyse the selected text passages. Besides this analysis of the selected texts, affect theory in conjunction with a trauma approach was utilised as a framework to engage with these texts. This combined approach offered a new and exciting lens focussing on emotions. Affect theory is an emerging area of study where aspects such as emotion, culture, and textual bodies become important as impetus in the study of the Hebrew text (cf. Cottrill, 2014: 432). The exercise performed in this article not only enriched the engagement of the Nahum text but showed the relevance of the research for current situations of war and the resulting effects of trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Tikrit University for Humanities is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In "The Brokenness of Being," Mari Ruti investigates the impact that trauma can have on being. Informed by her own experience of breast cancer, Ruti argues that there are some traumatic experiences that entirely change one's symbolic coordinates. She calls these types of experiences benchmark traumas. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ruti boldly explores how encountering a benchmark trauma forced her to recognize the brokenness of her being. She theorizes that this recognition reveals the split in the subject. Encountering this brokenness, as she calls it, at the heart of being can be completely debilitating. However, Ruti argues, there is a way to engage rather than repress this impossible reality. She theorizes that creativity is the one human expression that can grapple authentically with the split in the subject. To explore this idea, she collaborates with painter Dwight Smith. Smith's twenty-two paintings respond to the benchmark trauma of the death of his twenty-two-year-old daughter. The twenty-two paintings are positioned throughout the manuscript and are in conversation with Ruti's theory. Ruti is fascinated by both the paintings and Smith's process, which is similar to her own. For Ruti and Smith, their creativity is how existential engagement takes shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the trope of the 'missing person' in the literature about Kashmir and argues, by taking Madhuri Vijay's The Far Field (2019) as an example, how the trope allows the examination of a multilayered history of violence. The article problematises the idea of visibility and invisibility of the missing/abducted/hidden/underground people during conflict and suggests that these figures can be read as metaphors for personal and collective trauma and loss. By triangulating three coordinates in Kashmiri context - violence, trauma, and invisibility - the essay argues that a missing person can be emblematic of memories of trauma, negation of humanity, violation of body, and public complicity in institutional violence. By foregrounding Shalini's journey to recover the missing people, the novel underpins the "rot remains" of a society afflicted with violence and state apathy. Within the framework of trauma theory in the postcolonial context, the essay shows how the focus of Vijay's narrative of Kashmiri people's trauma is shifted from speech to body. The emphasis on the body contributes to a compelling narration of trauma by conflating land and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There should be no dispute that war causes trauma. In this article, the Nahum text serves as an example of how people suffering the threat of war experience trauma because of oppression, fear, and loss. To facilitate the discussion, a selection of texts was made and analysed to show how the Assyrian threat and invasion resulted in trauma for the people of Judah. A literary, contextual, and historical methodology was applied to analyse the selected text passages. Besides this analysis of the selected texts, affect theory in conjunction with a trauma approach was utilised as a framework to engage with these texts. This combined approach offered a new and exciting lens focussing on emotions. Affect theory is an emerging area of study where aspects such as emotion, culture, and textual bodies become important as impetus in the study of the Hebrew text (cf. Cottrill, 2014: 432). The exercise performed in this article not only enriched the engagement of the Nahum text but showed the relevance of the research for current situations of war and the resulting effects of trauma.

Colson Whitehead, a well-known contemporary African American writer, who has won the Pulitzer Prize twice. The Nickel Boys won the Pulitzer Prize in 2019, and the novel takes the tragic experience of black teenagers in the Nickel Academy Reformatory School as the main line of the story. This paper applies Judith Herman’s trauma theory to analyze the physical and psychological trauma faced by the characters in the novel, as well as the causes of this trauma. The racism and prejudice that the black people suffered have been deeply affecting their living and mental state. At the same time, this paper discusses the possible ways to realize the recovery of trauma with the theory of trauma and recovery. Through the trauma study, we can see that under the combined stress of these traumas, African Americans suffer from a great blow in their body and spirit. The causes of the trauma are multidimensional and are the result of a combination of historical and social factors. For example, the segregation system is responsible for the trauma of African Americans. At the end of the paper, it discusses ways for black people to come out of trauma. Trauma recovery is a complex and difficult process in which black people must rely on their own efforts and help from the black community to achieve trauma recovery. It can be said that Whitehead’s exploration of the trauma recovery in the novels shows his realistic concern for African Americans and even human beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reciprocal relationship between cultural trauma studies and psychoanalytic discourse on the one hand, and trauma studies and fictional representations of trauma on the other, has been commented on by scholars within the field of literary studies. What connects the representation of trauma in cultural trauma theory, trauma fiction, and psychoanalysis is that it is regarded as something that overwhelms an individual’s capacities for processing and functioning. However, while cultural trauma theory has come under scrutiny for prioritizing too narrow a view of trauma and its representations, the considerable critiques of and revisions to Freud’s theories, developed in the 1980/90s, have been mostly ignored by cultural trauma theorists. In this interdisciplinary article, we draw on relational psychoanalytic perspectives to demonstrate how relational revisions to psychoanalytic theory and techniques, as well as views on dissociation, can offer new perspectives for approaching literary works of fiction, such as the realist novel, which engage with the subject of trauma outside of established trauma conventions. We demonstrate that trauma novels by Lisa Appignanesi and Aminatta Forna parallel these revisions to psychoanalytic theory and techniques, allowing for a more pluralistic and nuanced representation of responses to trauma and suffering.

This essay intervenes in debates surrounding trauma theory and postcolonial studies, tracing how forms of African animism can lead to a decolonized discourse of trauma. Taking the postcolonial critique of trauma theory’s Eurocentrism as a point of departure, the essay focuses on two contemporary novels of the African diaspora: Aminatta Forna’s The Memory of Love and Delia Jarrett-Macauley’s Moses, Citizen, and Me. Narrating local forms of survival in post–civil war Sierra Leone, these novels use animist modes of consciousness to theorize the collective trauma of, and envision political futures for, Sierra Leone. Forna’s writing is emblematic of realism, while Jarrett-Macauley’s is an example of animist realism. Both novels are united, however, by an animism at the level of narrative process, drawing on the spirit world and possession rituals to counter therapeutic and humanitarian ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exploration of second-generation diasporic trauma in Kamila Shamsie’s seventh novel, Home Fire (2017), depicts a struggle to reconcile with the past of the characters with both Pakistani and British nationality. Shamsie consolidates her fiction about the dilemma and struggle of the diasporic society members, Isma, Aneeka and Parvaiz, throughout the novel. The recurring motif of the novel is the diasporic identity which signals the dilemma of the characters in terms of adopting British or Pakistani moral norms and identities. Shamsie justifies the diasporic trauma as a revelation of the present and past diasporic belongings of Knickers Pasha and Pervy Pasha in the novel as a characteristic of vile and modern migrant tragedies. In this study, the notion of diasporic trauma will be studied in the novel, Home Fire, with the fragmented narrative voices of the Pasha family members as one of the means of representation of trauma in literature.

Cultural trauma theory provides a framework for studying the socio-cultural process which takes place between an event and its (socially accepted) representation. This article will apply the process-oriented approach of cultural trauma theory to studying biblical narratives of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, focusing in particular on the destruction and pillage of the temple. The comparison of the various accounts of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, and of their different versions transmitted in Hebrew and in Greek, reveals that the memory of this event was by no means unified and developed over a longer period of time. Discussing passages from 2 Kgs 24–25 and their parallels in the book of Jeremiah, this article will argue that the devastation of the temple of Jerusalem, which is often regarded as a major traumatizing event in the history of ancient Judah, became remembered as such only as the result of a longer process.

Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman, asserts and protests strenuously against the rigid laws that enslave women. The piece of work sheds light on the prevailing morality, which believes that chastity, repentance and submission should be the only virtues of women. Mary Wollstonecraft's posthumous work is equipped with such powerful political statements. Maria's character is nothing but a written defence against her oppressive and abusive husband's misconducts against her. Wollstonecraft pens this feminist manifesto to denounce the numerous wrongs that are done to women. Her proclamation stands tall, demanding women's right to be free of male oppression. In this research work, we would like to draw not only on the measurements of Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman but also take a different path, focusing on a theme that is central to the novel and its feminist politics which has received little attention so far: trauma. The novel is a structuring of intertwined life events of suffering and ruptured relationships. We would here delve deep into the novel; the protagonist's life events and the writer's concerns through Trauma Theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study rereads Qoheleth and the Babylonian Theodicy through a trauma lens as opposed to the generic lens of speculative wisdom encompassing retributive justice, retribution theology, and the deed-consequence nexus and their consequent view of the gods'/God's justice. According to retribution theology, actions correlate appropriately to consequences; however, in light of their suffering and resilience, both authors are disillusioned, struggling to make sense of life's predicaments despite their religiosity and placating of the deity, as they also resist retribution theology. Rereading Qoheleth and the Babylonian Theodicy through a trauma lens shows that both sufferers seek answers and cope with suffering similarly to modern readers. This study acknowledges the use and limits of retribution theology operating within the Hebrew and Mesopotamian worldview to illustrate how these texts resist retributive justice. However, we also illustrate how the collective and individual aspects of trauma theory transcend ethic, cultural, epochal, and geographical boundaries. Furthermore, the juxtaposed ancient texts demonstrate how to cope with traumatic life experiences outside the confines of retributive justice by making meaning of self and others in the world and exhibiting resilience through effective coping strategies. Ultimately, Qoheleth affirms that while fearing God is right, navigating trauma includes enjoying God's simple gifts such as food, wine, work, and a spouse for momentary relief. The Babylonian Theodicy sufferer makes meaning and develops resiliency through self-disclosure to friends and acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article interrogates the idea of female puberty being presented as a traumatic experience in Stephen King's Carrie (1974) and It (1986). As a point of contrast, there is a brief examination of how King portrays the coming-of-age tale in 'The Body' (Different Seasons, 1982) for his young male protagonists – even when death or the supernatural is concerned, coming of age is depicted as an exciting adventure. There is an examination of how King portrays female coming-of-age as traumatic, as girls' bodies transformed into sites of monstrosity. Referring to the works of Barbara Creed and Sherry B. Ortner, there is a focus on how Carrie White's inability to hide her menarche leads to her status as the monstrous feminine. This article examines the correlation between menarche and incestuous sexual abuse in relation to It, with reference to King's Gerald's Game (1992), and how young girls will blame their developing bodies for their fathers' predatory behaviour within the novels. There is a focus on how the male characters of It can repress their traumatic memories, but the one female main character is unable to do so due to the insidious nature of her trauma and its inherent connection to her body. This article argues for a more comprehensive understanding of King's gendered approach to coming-of-age narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Статья посвящена репрезентации травматического опыта на материале романов Грэма Свифта «Владелец кондитерской» (The Sweet-shop Owner, 1980) и «Земля воды» (Waterland, 1983). Выбор темы мотивируется актуальностью теории травмы в современном литературоведении. Цель статьи – определить причины и влияние травм на женские образы. Исследуемые травмы связаны с мотивами пережитого насилия и прерывания беременности, которые являются частью травмированного прошлого и катализатором событий, происходящих с героинями. Представленные романы олицетворяют личную травму двух персонажей – Мэри и Ирэн. Особое внимание уделяется способам взаимодействия действующих лиц с травматическим опытом. В ходе исследования выявлены источник травмы, травмирующее событие, симптомы травмы и посттравматическая адаптация. Автор статьи использует травму и ее последствия как один из значимых элементов в характеристике исследуемых женских персонажей.

American contemporary writer John Irving is one of the few famous for his unique artistic skills. He appreciates traditional novels and criticizes modern novels, and all of them embody metafiction skills in his creation. Through detailed analyses of his several representative works, the writer of this essay explores John Irving's perception of novel writing and elaborates his own writing practice including his repetitive narration of the same image. With the help of contemporary trauma theory, this paper also analyzes the recurring image of "Broken Arm" in his novels to restore the symptoms of the narrator's post-traumatic behavior so as to explore John Irving's outstanding artistic talent in narrative skills and characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Arab Uprisings and the dramatic consequences of the protests in Egypt, Egyptian novelists produced an abundant number of literary works that deal with the dynamic and complex reality after 2011. Most of these works chronicle complex back stories which reflect national and individuals' crises in the society of the last few decades. This article focuses on Kitāb al-Naḥḥāt (2013); “The Sculptor's Bookʼʼ) by Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Laṭīf and argues that, though it reads and feels like a surreal or fantastic narrative, its events point allegorically at the political and social reality of Egypt in a circuitous and urgent manner. Thus, this article looks at how allegory (Benjamin 1928, Jameson 1986) can help to shed light on the literary treatment of political violence, historical collective trauma and argues that reading ʻAbd al-Laṭīf ‘s novel through a lens of trauma theory enables us to perceive the profound critique of the political Egyptian arena post 2011 as proposed by the writer. The article points out three traumatic tropes: absence, indirection, and repetition. The analysis of literary devices such as fragmentations, alienations, and nightmares will highlight the persistent aching pain and the insidious trauma of the protagonists. Moreover, addressing the main formal and stylistic features of the novel offers a chance to study the changes that may reverberate in narrative forms and symbolic meanings in Egyptian literature post-2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Genesis 19.30-38, Lot's daughters commit incest with their father to save his seed. Earlier in Genesis 19.6-8, Lot offered his daughters to be raped by the men of Sodom to save the honour of his male guests. Reading these stories together, in the latter, we observe an inverted world where victims become perpetrators and vice versa. If read through trauma theory, the inversion could imply that the daughters' rape of Lot was motivated by revenge; however, traumatic re-enactment, where the daughters repeat their earlier trauma but also invert it, could also suit the textual evidence. Verses 30–38 could be read as an attempt to master previous trauma through repetition, where the recurring descriptions of design and act of rape are central to the interpretation of the narrative. This reading does not lessen the horror of the passage but rather adds to our understanding of trauma in Genesis 19.30–38. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadly speaking, the literary history of human–nonhuman metamorphoses conveys certain ethics regarding human-to-human relations by mediating these relations through metaphors of inhumanity. Where such transformations appear in the literature of the present, however, the human is often decentered, fostering an uneasy consort between human and nonhuman beings and ways of being. Taking the fiction of South Korean author, Han Kang, as a case study, this essay examines the political or civic value of reinvigorating vegetal or arboreal transformation in contemporary stories that unfold against a backdrop of global climate change and ecological collapse. I argue that Han's work depicts the mimicry of or engagement with nonhuman forms of life as both passive strategies for resisting human acts of violence and exploitation and alternative models of sociality and care. Drawing especially on the unruliness of plants and non-animal organic matter, Han's translated works invite readers to consider what human subjects can learn about both individual and networked, interspecies modes of protest from green subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]