HEALING INVISIBLE WOUNDS: DON DELILLO’S FALLING MAN AND THE RECOVERY OF TRAUMA

Abstract

9/11 has not only caused dramatic, social, and political changes in the US history but also created a literature in which many authors seek to understand the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Literature about 9/11 focuses particularly on how white or immigrant male masculinity is shaken due to trauma as it fails to present the intricate relationship between traumatized woman and recovery. Furthermore, literary criticism on 9/11 narratives centered on the analysis of the traumatic experiences of individuals does not take the discussion further by examining the recovery process of trauma. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine Don DeLillo’s Falling Man and the literary representation of the traumatized woman’s recovery, a topic mostly neglected within the scholarship of 9/11 novels. Confronting trauma creates a psychological and emotional catharsis which is a vital process leading to healing and rejuvenation as well as coming into terms with the self, memory, past, and society. Through the lenses of contemporary literary trauma theory and contemporary trauma stress studies, this paper examines traumatized woman’s recovery and healing to restructure, reorient, and rebuild self and life aftermath of 9/11 and its traumatic effects.

Keywords

• 9/11
• Recovery of trauma
• Woman
• Contemporary literary trauma theory
• Falling Man.

GÖRÜNMEZ YARALARI İYİLEŞTİRMEK: DON DELILLO’S FALLING MAN VE TRAVMANIN İYİLEŞMESİ

Abstract

11 Eylül saldırıları Amerika tarihinde sadece çarpıcı sosyal ve siyasi değişiklere sebep olmamış, aynı zamanda yazarların Dünya Ticaret Merkezine yapılan saldırılar sonrasını anlamaya çalıştıkları bir edebiyat meydana getirmiştir. 11 Eylül edebiyatı, özellikle beyaz veya göçmen erkeklik olgusunun travma sonucu nasıl sarsıldığı üzerine odaklandığı için travma yaşamış kadın ve iyileşme arasındaki karmaşık ilişkiyi yansıtmakta yetersiz kalmıştır. Ayrıca, 11 Eylül metinleri hakkında yazılan çalışmalar iyileşme sürecini incelemeden sadece bireylerin travma deneyimleri üzerine yoğunlaşmaktadır. Dolayısı ile bu çalışmanın amacı, Don DeLillo’nun Falling Man adlı romanında tasvir edilen travma yaşamış kadının iyileşme sürecinin edebi yansımasını incelemektir. Çalışma, iyileşme ve yenilenmenin sebebinin, travma ile yüzleşme olduğunu savunur. Çünkü hayati bir süreç olan psikolojik ve duygusal boşalma, bireyin geçmişi, hafızayı, öz benliği ve toplumu kabullenmesi ile mümkündür. Çağdaş edebi travma teorisi ve çağdaş travma stres çalışmaları ışığında bu makale, 11 Eylül ve onun etkileri sonucu travma geçirmiş kadının iyileşme süreci ile kendini ve hayatı yeniden inşa etmesini incelemektedir.

Keywords

• Travma
• Kadın
• 11 Eylül
• Yeni Edebi Travma Teorisi
• Falling Man

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