Decolonizing Trauma Theory: Retrospect and Prospects

Irene Visser

doi:10.3390/h4020250

Abstract

Decolonizing trauma theory has been a major project in postcolonial literary scholarship ever since its first sustained engagements with trauma theory. Since then, trauma theory and postcolonial literary studies have been uneasy bedfellows, and the time has now come to take stock of what remains in postcolonial trauma studies from the original formulations of trauma theory, and see which further steps must be envisaged in order to reach the ideal of a truly decolonized trauma theory today. To this end, this article presents a detailed overview of the short history and the present situation of the trajectory of decolonizing trauma theory for postcolonial studies, clarifying the various re-routings that have so far taken place, and delineating the present state of the project, as well as the need for further developments towards an increased expansion and inclusiveness of the theory. I argue that openness to non-Western belief systems and their rituals and ceremonies in the engagement with trauma is needed in order to achieve the remaining major objectives of the long-standing project of decolonizing trauma theory.

Highlights

The call for a decolonized trauma theory may be dated quite precisely to the publication of the special issue of Studies in the Novel (Vol 40, nrs.1 and 2) of Spring/Summer 2008, whose topic, as presented by editors Buelens and Craps, was the rapprochement between trauma theory and postcolonial literary studies [1]
Rothberg highlighted as urgent: trauma theory’s Eurocentric, event-based conception of trauma; its too-narrow focus on Freudian psychoanalysis; and its deconstructionist approach that closes off other approaches to literary trauma
Protagonist and trauma victim Frank Money tells the story of his life to a nameless scribe, and in the process gradually uncovers the layers of hurt that are wrapped around a central devastating traumatic experience during the war, which involved his shooting of a young girl in the face

Summary

Introduction

The call for a decolonized trauma theory may be dated quite precisely to the publication of the special issue of Studies in the Novel (Vol 40, nrs. and 2) of Spring/Summer 2008, whose topic, as presented by editors Buelens and Craps, was the rapprochement between trauma theory and postcolonial literary studies [1]. While the editors emphasized possibilities, the contributors saw major obstacles to a fully postcolonial trauma theory, and opened up many pressing questions about the complex relationship between trauma theory and postcolonial literary studies. These were summarized by Michael Rothberg in a detailed and insightful response essay published in the same issue of StiN [3]. Rothberg highlighted as urgent: trauma theory’s Eurocentric, event-based conception of trauma; its too-narrow focus on Freudian psychoanalysis; and its deconstructionist approach that closes off other approaches to literary trauma Discarding or reconfiguring these elements have been crucial steps in the decolonizing project that started in 2008; as I will argue, there are further steps to be taken in order to fully accomplish the ideal of a decolonized trauma theory

Decolonizing Trauma Theory

Re-Viewing Melancholia

Re-Valuing the Function of Narrative

Expanding Trauma Theory

New Areas of Exploration

Conclusions