Kurtz Trauma and Transformation in African Literature

Writing Wrongs
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-315-46751-1
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 198 Seiten

Reihe: Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature

This book fills a gap in the field of contemporary trauma studies by interrogating the relevance of trauma for African literatures. Until recently, the engagement of literary theory with the interdisciplinary field of trauma studies has focused principally on texts and examples from Europe and North America. But how relevant is trauma theory in a non-Western literary context like Africa? And in what ways might African literatures enrich or alter our understandings of trauma? The book first frames what is generally meant by trauma theory, highlighting key conceptual problems related to the notion of trauma, and offering a model for its relevance in the African context. Kurtz argues that a thoughtful application of trauma theory in relation to African literatures is in fact a productive exercise, and furthermore that the benefits of this exercise include not only what it can do for African literature, but also what it can do for trauma studies. However, he also makes the case for weakening some of the more ambitious claims of trauma theory. Looking at the healing potential of literature from an African context requires us to understand trauma healing within the larger project of peacebuilding, with an emphasis on the transformative potential of what he terms the African moral imagination, as embodied in the creative work of its writers. The study includes readings of selected works by Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Daniachew Worku, Ivan Vladislavic, Chimamanda Adichie and Nurrudin Farah, as case studies for how African literature can influence our understanding of trauma and trauma healing. This will be a valuable volume for those with interests in current trends and developments in trauma studies, African literary studies, postcolonial studies, and memory studies.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kurtz, J. Roger

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturen sonstiger Sprachräume Afrikanische Literaturen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Stoffe, Motive und Themen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PART I. Framing the Questions

Introduction: Trauma Theory, Going Global

1. The "Thorn in the Spirit"

2. Problems in Trauma Studies

3. Traumatomimesis and Literature’s Moral Imagination

4. Trauma through the African Moral Imagination

PART II. Writing Wrongs

5. Grace Ogot’s The Promised Land

6. Daniachew Worku, The Thirteenth Sun

7. Ivan Vladislavic, The Restless Supermarket

8. Chimamanda Adichie, Purple Hibiscus

9. Nuruddin Farah’s "Return to Somalia" Trilogy

Conclusions: African Literature and Trauma Theory

Über Autor(innen)

J. Roger Kurtz is Professor of English at The College at Brockport, State University of New York, USA.