Narrativizing Trauma: A Reading Of Chris Abani’s Becoming Abigail (Abstract)
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Abstract
Narrativizing trauma is a complex and problematic issue because the very essence of trauma lies in its defiance of narration. According to Cathy Caruth, trauma “simultaneously defies and demands our witness” and needs to be approached with “language that defies, even as it claims, our understanding” (5). Based upon this theoretical position, this paper attempts to locate trauma in the selected text and examine Abani’s narrativization of trauma. Even as trauma defies linear narration, the paper explores the multiple ways in which the narrative in Becoming Abigail represents traumatic experiences through a careful analysis of the mode of narration.
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References
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