LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 22:10 October 2022
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Representing the History through Trauma:
A Comparative Study

Jitendra Kumar Singh, Ph.D.

Abstract

The representation of trauma in the literary hemisphere constitutes the individual and social desires which are to be hard to express. It represents the unconscious output of the emotion which are suppressed due to social structure. The scholars, therefore, try to decode their inner sense through the use of language. Such representation can be seen in Melville and Dostoevsky’s simultaneous articulation in Moby Dick and Notes from Underground respectively. We have seen that both have represented the past through their construction of the linguistic approaches in their works. The reason of such representation was their hidden instincts which they could not initiate in society. Melville and Dostoevsky have undergone the trauma caused by emerging unrest due to growing civilization of their countries respectively. This paper aims to find out how these authors have recalled the past through the representation of the trauma in their literary works. While seeking the objective of the paper, the linguistic approaches of various critics and theorists would be negotiated to develop the hypothesis.

Keywords: Trauma, Melville, Dostoevsky, past.

Introduction and Literature Review

Trauma is supposed to be an extreme condition and an unpresentable event. Cathy Caruth, who pioneered a psychoanalytic post-structural approach suggests that “trauma is an unsolvable problem of the unconscious that illuminates the inherent contradictions of experience and language (M. Balaev, 2014:1). According to this Lacanian perspective, trauma is conceptualized as a persistent absence that divides knowledge of the traumatic experience, preventing linguistic value other than referential expression. This approach permits a special emphasis on language indeterminacy, ambiguous referentiality, and aporia, particularly for Caruth's deconstructive criticism. Arguments that sought to emphasize the extent of profound suffering from an external source, whether that source is a single perpetrator or collective social practices, were significant in the sense that they relied on the presumptive inherent neurobiological characteristics of trauma that cause dissociation and refuse representation. The depiction of trauma in art is thus at odds with how we currently view art, literature, and representational techniques. In our efforts to represent, we make an effort to strike a balance between reality and fantasy.

Again, the aesthetic is a contextual presumption, but in order for something to be referred to as art, both the representation of experience and the representation of imagination must be done in an aesthetic way. Trauma is inherently a challenge to such arrangements because the victims of trauma experiences pain and suffer so acutely that language frequently fails to express or is insufficient for achieving that goal. Even if it is sufficient, it can be difficult to arrange in an attractive way. We have tried to address this issue by referencing two pieces of art that seek to navigate these difficulties while challenging perceptions of art, aesthetics, and modes of representation in the process. These two books are Herman Melville's Moby Dick and Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground (1864).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Jitendra Kumar Singh, Ph.D.
Former Research Scholar
Department of English
Faculty of Arts
Banaras Hindu University
BHU, Varanasi- 221005 (UP), India
jeet91singh@gmail.com
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