Artistic means of childhood trauma representation in American 9/11 literature
The paper provides an analysis of how American 9/11 literature artistically represents the traumatization of children, conveys their psychological experiences and the subsequent journey towards healing in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing interest of contemporary culture in the exploitation of the image of the child, its aesthetic, and symbolic connotation in the process of representing the collective traumatic experience. In this research, a cultural-historical approach combined with comparative and literary psychological analysis is used. These narratives employ various techniques, such as metonymic representation of childhood trauma, symbolic picturing of PTSD symptoms, and imagery of fantasy worlds, to depict the trauma experienced by child-characters and child-narrators after the terrorist attack. The writers consider verbalization as one of the means of productive processing of the traumatic experience of the hero-child. In this way, 9/11 literature emphasizes the therapeutic journey of young protagonists towards healing, often reflecting the process of maturity. As a result of the conducted research, we draw the conclusion that 9/11 literature employs artistic techniques to portray the trauma experienced by child characters, illustrating their inner journey. Through artful storytelling, 9/11 literature underscores the idea that even in the face of profound tragedy, there is potential for recovery and renewal.
Shalagina, O. V. and Shamina, V. B. (2023). Artistic means of childhood trauma representation in American 9/11 literature, Research Result. Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, 9 (3), 84-100. DOI: 10.18413/2313-8912-2023-9-3-0-6
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