Collaborative Commemoration: Narratives as Transactional Memorials to Heal the Wounds of War and Trauma

Abstract

ABSTRACTHuman beings tell stories to give voice to the indescribable, to make sense, to define themselves and their place in the world, and to convey to others a sense of their lived experience. Unlike granite or stone, war stories or poems or memoirs serve as active, enduring memorials by virtue of the reciprocal work that is required of the reader or receiver of the writing. Although a statue or edifice can symbolize a battle won or lost, or remind its viewers of lives contributed or sacrificed, and evoke collective mourning, a story or poem demands the active work of affiliation with the writer of that poem or story. This intersubjective exchange, forged through bearing witness (even if indirect), can begin the work of healing the wounds of war. Through consideration of memorial studies, trauma studies, and illness narrative theory, the author will explore the transactional nature of the collaborative commemoration that is effected by writing about the Great War. A close reading of Wilfred Owen's poem Dulce et Decorum Est will serve to highlight the ways in which a narrative memorial can both evoke the trauma of war and serve as an exhortative gesture toward its healing and possible prevention.