HAUNTING WOUNDS: A TRAUMA THEORY ANALYSIS OF TONI MORRISON
Keywords:
Trauma theory; systemic trauma; slavery; characterization; Beloved.Abstract
Trauma Resulting From Slavery Remains A Central Concern In African American Literary Discourse, Particularly In Representations Of Memory, Identity, And Historical Violence. Toni Morrison’s Beloved Portrays Post-Slavery Trauma As An Enduring Condition Shaping Subjectivity And Social Existence. Previous Scholarship Has Largely Examined Trauma In The Novel Through Psychological And Memory-Based Frameworks, Emphasizing Individual Experience While Giving Less Attention To Its Systemic Production Through Institutional Slavery And Racialized Power. Addressing This Gap, This Study Analyzes How Trauma In Beloved Is Represented Through Characterization And Narration And Constructed As A Systemic Phenomenon.
Using Qualitative Textual Analysis With Purposive Sampling Of Trauma-Related Passages Across Major Characters, Data Were Organized Through Thematic Clustering. The Findings Show That Trauma Is Depicted As Embodied, Inherited, And Socially Transmitted Experience Shaped By Institutional Violence And Dehumanization. The Study Concludes That Morrison Represents Trauma As A Structural Post-Slavery Condition Rather Than Solely Individual Psychological Damage.
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