Attachment trauma and role of secure base in selected literary works of black women writers
Most research in the field of trauma studies has been limited to the sufferings of Whites, focusing predominantly on the agonies of Holocaust victims and repercussions of military operations on war veterans. Some researchers have examined victimization of black women in light of Trauma Studies wi...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/68484/1/FBMK%202018%2017%20IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | Most research in the field of trauma studies has been limited to the sufferings of
Whites, focusing predominantly on the agonies of Holocaust victims and
repercussions of military operations on war veterans. Some researchers have
examined victimization of black women in light of Trauma Studies with reference to
slavery, racism, colonialism and the concept of beauty but my research will strive to
focus on those fictional characters who suffered from attachment trauma. These
characters are perpetrated by their close relations who are supposed to protect them
and safeguard their rights. Traumatic experiences of these characters by their familymembers
result in psychological disorders. This aspect has hardly been explored. I
intend to fill the gap by examining contemporary African and African-American
literature produced by black women in the light of Jon G. Allen’s Attachment
Trauma Theory. This study seeks to analyze the fictional works of Yvonne Vera’s
Under the Tongue (1996), Toni Morrison’s Paradise (1997), Zelda Lockhart’s Fifth
Born (2010), and Yejide Kilanko’s Daughters Who Walk This Path (2012). The
study aims to examine the silenced characters that have experienced not only
physical intrusion but also substantial psychological and emotional trauma. I aim to
explore how attachment trauma and attachment anxiety are related to emotional
damage of these characters. Life becomes frightful as one has to survive in
intimidating domestic environment with lingering traumatic memories. In this study,
the role of secure base will also be identified as a means of recovering the shattered
selves of the characters. This research will evaluate if affectionate and caring
attachment figures have comforting, healing and therapeutic effects on the suffering
individuals. These individuals struggle to achieve integrity and independence while
coping with humiliation and loneliness. This Trauma Fiction conveys traumatic
knowledge using stylistic features where the concept of time freezes like the
experience of trauma. These pain narratives authenticate female resistance against
violent patriarchal structures of the social order. |
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