TRAUMA AND TESTIMONY IN MARIO VARGAS’S THE FEAST OF THE GOAT
Abstract
This research paper studies the presence of trauma and testimony in The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa. Trauma begs for the representation of the un- representable and works against any coherent narrative representation of the self; while testimony means to testify, which is usually in a court of law; when a witness is asked, under oath, to give his/her testimony regarding a particular incident. Similarly, in literature, when a character tells the story of his/her misery or past circumstances in an autobiographical form; such a narration is termed as ‘testimonial literature’. Vargas, in the Feast of the Goat relates the history of the Dominican Republic during the dictatorial regime of Trujillo. The goat had ruled the Republic for 30 years with an iron fist. Urania, the lead character of the novel, came back to her home country after spending thirty-five years of self- exile. Hers is a journey of trauma and testimony. She first of all confronted her aged father in a dialogic exchange about the various incidents that had traumatized her in her childhood. She also spoke to her aunt and cousins about her traumatic memory of her teens when she got raped by Trujillo. The novel also referred to the national trauma of the Dominican People during the Trujillo rule and the mayhem that was created after his death by his so called supported.References
Retrieved from http://www.whartonlima08.com/bio-vargas.html
Retrieved from https://centerforanxietydisorders.com/what-is-trauma/
Retrieved fromhttps://metiv.org/trauma-information/trauma-post-traumatic- stress-disorder/trauma-vs-stress/
Retrieved fromhttp://www.teachtrauma.com/information-about-trauma/ types-of-trauma/
Retrieved fromhttps://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-types
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Robert Eaglestone (2002) Identification and the genre of testimony, Immigrants & Minorities, 21:1-2, 117-140, DOI: 10.1080/02619288.2002.9975035
Gilmore, Leigh 2001: The Limits of Autobiography. Trauma and Testimony. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP.
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Hartman, Geoffrey H. (2003): ‘Trauma within the Limits of Literature’. European Journal of English Studies 7.3: 257-74.
Whitehead, Anne (2004): Trauma Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP.
Hartman, Geoffrey H. 2002 (1996): The Longest Shadow. In the Aftermath of the Holocaust. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Charcot, Jean Michele (1887): Lecons sur les maladies du systèmenerveux. Vol. 3. Paris: A. Delahaye.
Mott, Frederick Walker (1919): War Neuroses and Shell Shock. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Freud, Sigmund 2001 (1920): ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’. Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Group Psychology and Other Works. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 18. Ed. and trans. James Strachey. London: Vintage. 7-64.
Myers, Charles S. (1940): Shell Shock in France. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
Caruth, Cathy (1995): Trauma: Explorations in Memory. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins UP.
Appelfeld, A. (1994). Beyond Despair, trans. J.M. Green. New York: Fromm Int. Publishing Corporation.
Caruth, Cathy 1996: Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins UP.
Luckhurst, Roger (2006): ‘Mixing Memory and Desire: Psychoanalysis, Psychology, and Trauma Theory’. Patricia Waugh, ed. Literary Theory and Criticism. An Oxford Guide. Oxford: Oxford UP. 497- 507.
Luckhurst, Roger (2008): The Trauma Question. London: Routledge.
Freud, Sigmund 2001 (1939): ‘Moses and Monotheism’. Moses and Monotheism, an Outline of Psycho-Analysis and Other Works. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 23. Ed. and trans. James Strachey. London: Vintage. 1-137.
Retrieved from https://centerforanxietydisorders.com/what-is-trauma/
Retrieved fromhttps://metiv.org/trauma-information/trauma-post-traumatic- stress-disorder/trauma-vs-stress/
Retrieved fromhttp://www.teachtrauma.com/information-about-trauma/ types-of-trauma/
Retrieved fromhttps://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-types
Elie Wiesel, ‘The Holocaust as Literary Inspiration’, in Dimensions of the Holocaust (Evanston, IL, 1990), p.7.
Shoshana Felman & Dori Laub, Testimony: Crises of Witnessing in Literature, Psychoanalysis, and History (London, 1992), p.7.
Robert Eaglestone (2002) Identification and the genre of testimony, Immigrants & Minorities, 21:1-2, 117-140, DOI: 10.1080/02619288.2002.9975035
Gilmore, Leigh 2001: The Limits of Autobiography. Trauma and Testimony. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP.
Freud, Sigmund & Josef Breuer. 1991 (1893): ‘On the Psychical Mechanism of Hysterical Phenomena: Preliminary Communication’, James and Alix Strachey, ed. and trans. Studies on Hysteria. London: Penguin. 53-69.
Jung, Carl G. 1990 (1959): The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Vol. 9, part 1 of The Collected Works of Carl Jung. Ed. M. Fordham and G. Adler. Trans. R. C. Hull and H. Read. London: Routledge.
Hartman, Geoffrey H. (2003): ‘Trauma within the Limits of Literature’. European Journal of English Studies 7.3: 257-74.
Whitehead, Anne (2004): Trauma Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP.
Hartman, Geoffrey H. 2002 (1996): The Longest Shadow. In the Aftermath of the Holocaust. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Charcot, Jean Michele (1887): Lecons sur les maladies du systèmenerveux. Vol. 3. Paris: A. Delahaye.
Mott, Frederick Walker (1919): War Neuroses and Shell Shock. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Freud, Sigmund 2001 (1920): ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’. Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Group Psychology and Other Works. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 18. Ed. and trans. James Strachey. London: Vintage. 7-64.
Myers, Charles S. (1940): Shell Shock in France. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
Caruth, Cathy (1995): Trauma: Explorations in Memory. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins UP.
Appelfeld, A. (1994). Beyond Despair, trans. J.M. Green. New York: Fromm Int. Publishing Corporation.
Caruth, Cathy 1996: Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins UP.
Luckhurst, Roger (2006): ‘Mixing Memory and Desire: Psychoanalysis, Psychology, and Trauma Theory’. Patricia Waugh, ed. Literary Theory and Criticism. An Oxford Guide. Oxford: Oxford UP. 497- 507.
Luckhurst, Roger (2008): The Trauma Question. London: Routledge.
Freud, Sigmund 2001 (1939): ‘Moses and Monotheism’. Moses and Monotheism, an Outline of Psycho-Analysis and Other Works. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 23. Ed. and trans. James Strachey. London: Vintage. 1-137.
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2023-01-02
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