History and Trauma: A Lacanian Reading of Joy Kogawa's Obasan
| Autor: | Ching-ju Liu, 劉靜茹 |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2006 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 94 Joy Kogawa’s postwar novel Obasan, concerning the traumatic experiences, has been widely discussed from the perspectives of history, memory and trauma. I will probe into the issue of trauma, both collective and personal ones, and its aftermath on the protagonist Naomi since her childhood. I employ Lacan’s concept of subject formation and its relation to trauma especially when a catastrophic incident occurs ghastly enough to shatter one’s subjectivity along with the notion of jouissance to exemplify Naomi’s case. Naomi’s mother’s disappearance, the enforced “mobility” to different detainment camps, the sudden vanishment of family members, and the sexual/racial harassment that plague on her during those harsh years certainly have caused her the difficulty in identification and subjectivity formation. Not only Naomi but also most Japanese Canadians bury themselves deep in amnesia and silence in confrontation with the unbearable traumatic experience. I apply Cathy Caruth’s view of trauma to argue that trauma still cries out to be heard through silence and compulsive repetitions. Being young, Naomi is incapable of dealing with the incomprehensible horrors and shock; however, trauma can be detected not only from her silence but also the recurring nightmares and the fairy tales she recalls. Naomi’s world seems to be composed of fairy tale plots that she envisions. Some of the fairy tales serve as a fantasy structure for Naomi to imagine a better world; however, the other fairy tales distinctly reveal the haunting of the return of the repressed. This thesis aims to investigate into how Naomi’s childhood traumas have influenced her throughout her life, and how she manages to survive the catastrophes as a whole. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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