It is in the Blood: Trauma and Memory in the South African Novel

Abstract

What Is Trauma?As previous essays have already stated, trauma is morbid condition produced by wounds or external violence. Psychological trauma is not visible the way bodily trauma is - it is what we call emotional shock. The dictionary tells us it is a violent emotional blow, especially one which has lasting psychic effect; neurological condition from physical or emotional injury.1 Note that we're not talking of just any kind of shock, but of an emotional shock that creates substantial and lasting damage to the psychological development of the individual (generally leading to neurosis). Moreover, such shock must be produced by violence. Also, it results in debilitation, and the traumatized exhibits diminished functioning or functioning is wholly destroyed.We see, then, that l) there must be violence, and that 2) the violence must be such that it so traumatizes the individual that the result is destruction of normal functioning to varying degrees - from mild, to severe, to total collapse.If, then, this is the definition of trauma - morbid condition produced by violence - little wonder that the South African novel is preoccupied with trauma. As my title indicates, trauma is in the blood for the people of South Africa; they can neither escape it nor ignore it. To do the latter would be wellnigh impossible except perhaps in those individuals who have escaped into madness; and the former is just not possible, as trauma itself, its residue, or its outcomes form an integral, inescapable part of their very lives, of life itself - of all life in South Africa. Psychological trauma is one of the legacies of apartheid and has resulted in the social neurosis daily witnessed in the country - as evidenced by the screaming headlines: appalling violence and acts of unimaginable savagery.My people, amaXhosa, say 'Isegazini/it is in the blood' when something shows itself as such an integral part of someone's makeup that the two - the individual and the act/compulsion to that act - display an inescapable dance or fatality; when the person shows an inherent inability to divorce himself/ herself from habit that is clearly not wholesome and may even be harmful either to self and/or to others. However, even though clearly aware and understanding the consequences of that particular action or course of action - despite all that - the individual consistently engages in this destructive behaviour. In other words, the destructive behaviour appears wholly and totally ineluctable - inevitable.It is in the blood. It is generally accepted and understood that blood is essential to human life; without blood there can be no living. Sayings such as 'He bled to death' show the truthfulness of that. How, then, does person so embrace habit that it becomes or shows itself to be an integral part of that life - something without which the person simply could not live, showing no inclination or capability to live free thereof?FACT: South Africa has had violent past.FACT: South Africa has violent present.FACT: South Africa will predictably have violent future - unless . . .This is not prophecy - it is prediction based on present trends or the sad state of the nation, as far as safety is concerned. We talk of 'the legacy of apartheid'. Invariably, when you hear the phrase, you can bet your bottom dollar that what the speaker is referring to is negative in the extreme. That is because apartheid, nefarious, evil system, could not but bear highly poisonous fruit.What, you may be asking yourself by now, has all this got to do with writing? What has it got to do with the novel? Writers write out of compulsion. They are compelled to write. The grist for the mill is the world they inhabit, and each writer defines that world in peculiarly individual manner. So each will tell the story according to ability, inclination, 'mood of the moment' or inciting incident. However, all writers live under the same sky, breathe in the same air, watch the same television, and read or listen to the same news; therefore, there are bound to be some similarities or overlaps in certainly the subject or issues with which they are concerned and about which they write. …