Historical Trauma in Native American and Jewish Literatures

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorArnold, Ellen L.en_US
dc.contributor.authorReagan, Julianaen_US
dc.contributor.departmentEnglishen_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-01-15T12:41:15Z
dc.date.available2013-01-15T12:41:15Z
dc.date.issued2012en_US
dc.description.abstractDr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart defines historical trauma as the "collective emotional and psychological injury both over the life span and across generations, resulting from a cataclysmic history of genocide" (Ottenbacher 2). Populations with a legacy of genocide can transfer the psychological trauma from one generation to the next, creating a cycle of effects such as alcoholism, domestic violence, and instability in the home. Native Americans and the Jewish populations carry with them histories of genocide and have the potential to transmit unresolved trauma from generation to generation. This thesis discusses historical trauma as it is exhibited in selected Native American and Jewish texts. Each chapter discusses a different stage of transmission, and the literatures from Native American and Jewish authors are compared to show similarities and differences. Elie Wiesel's memoir Night (1958) and D'Arcy McNickle's Wind from an Enemy Sky (1978) are used in Chapter One to examine the effects of the trauma on the first generation. The two young boys, Eliezer in Night and Antoine in Wind from an Enemy Sky, are compared as witnesses to the trauma. Through a sequence of stressors they experience a loss of culture, and are the generation at the root of the cycle of the transmission of historical trauma. In Chapter Two, Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007) and Bernard Malamud's The Assistant (1957) are discussed in regards to the effects of historical trauma on subsequent generations. Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Morris and his daughter Helen from The Assistant are compared to argue the transmission of the effects of historical trauma through observation, subconscious absorption, and sociocultural factors. Junior observes damaging behaviors like alcoholism in his father; while Morris transmits his depression and low self-esteem to Helen who begins to exhibit the same behavior. The final chapter introduces N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969) and uses texts from previous chapters to discuss possible paths towards healing from historical trauma and create a positive collective memory. The importance of comparing the colonization of North America and the Jewish Holocaust is to bring attention to the two histories, and keep them relevant in today's society in order to preserve the memory of those who did not survive, and to fight the denial of the trauma that lingers in the perpetrator's society.  en_US
dc.description.degreeM.A.en_US
dc.format.extent60 p.en_US
dc.format.mediumdissertations, academicen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10342/4085
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherEast Carolina Universityen_US
dc.subjectLiteratureen_US
dc.subjectNative American studiesen_US
dc.subjectColonizationen_US
dc.subjectHistorical traumaen_US
dc.subjectHolocausten_US
dc.subjectNative American literatureen_US
dc.subjectNuit. English
dc.subjectWind from an enemy sky
dc.subjectAbsolutely true diary of a part-time Indian, The
dc.subjectAssistant, The
dc.subjectWay to Rainy Mountain, The
dc.subject.lcshComparative literature--Themes, motives
dc.subject.lcshPsychic trauma in literature
dc.subject.lcshGenocide in literature
dc.subject.lcshIndian literature
dc.subject.lcshJewish literature
dc.subject.lcshWiesel, Elie, 1928- . Nuit. English
dc.subject.lcshMcNickle, D'Arcy, 1904-1977. Wind from an enemy sky
dc.subject.lcshAlexie, Sherman, 1966- . Absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian
dc.subject.lcshMalamud, Bernard. Assistant
dc.subject.lcshMomaday, N. Scott, 1934- . Way to Rainy Mountain
dc.titleHistorical Trauma in Native American and Jewish Literaturesen_US
dc.typeMaster's Thesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Reagan_ecu_0600M_10845.pdf
Size:
233.19 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

English
Master's Theses