Irene Visser

Trauma theory and postcolonial literary studies

The plurality and growing number of responses to cultural trauma theory in postcolonial criticism demonstrate the ongoing appeal of trauma theory despite the fact that it is also increasingly critiqued as inadequate to the research agenda of postcolonial studies. In the dialogue between trauma theory and postcolonial literary studies the central question remains whether trauma theory can be effectively “postcolonialized” in the sense of being usefully conjoined with postcolonial theory. This article presents a detailed account of the core concepts and tenets of cultural trauma theory in order to contribute to a clearer understanding of the issues currently at stake in this developing relationship between trauma theory and postcolonial literary studies. It engages with fundamental issues, such as those deriving from trauma theory’s foundation in Freudian psychoanalysis; its Eurocentric orientation; its inherent contradictions, such as its deconstructionist aesthetics of aporia vs notions of therapeutic and recuperative narrativization; and its tendency to blur lines of distinction and to affirm stasis and melancholia as the empathic, responsible reception of trauma narratives. This article argues for a more precise, as well as more comprehensive, conceptualization of trauma and formulates possible directions in which to expand trauma’s conceptual framework, in order to respond more adequately to postcolonial ways of understanding history, memory and trauma.

The prototypicality of gender: Contemporary notions of masculine and feminine

Abstract Femininity and masculinity, as abstract, nonbiological concepts, are very difficult to define. Culturally and socially induced, they are subject to drastic change over time. This article presents prototypical notions of feminine and masculine, as they appeared from a categorisation test performed by Dutch students. The interdisciplinary combination of feminist theory and cognitive linguistics enabled a consideration of various interrelated questions, and their implications for feminist criticism. Can we speak of possibly significant changes in contemporary views from the traditional, well-known views of masculine and feminine?

Prototypes of gender: Conceptions of feminine and masculine

Abstract As gender research over the past 20 years has shown, conceptions of gender, while largely unconsciously held, are profoundly important; they influence our attitudes, behavior, and sense of self. Culturally and socially induced, gender conceptions are subject to change over time. This article reports the findings of a test of categorization of gender among Dutch students, which was held in 1995 and 1999. What changes can be seen in contemporary notions of gender over this period of 5 years, and what do they tell us about gender conceptions in contemporary society? Presenting contemporary prototypical conceptions of feminine and masculine, this article furthermore engages with recent gender studies in order to address questions relating to gender and work, gender equality, gender and self-esteem, and the need for change in contemporary gender notions.

How to Live in Post-Apartheid South Africa : Reading Zakes Mda's "Ways of Dying"

The effects of terror are temporary phenomena. Force produces neither real nor lasting effects. Rather, the only lasting impact is produced by contemplation and understanding from within, and precisely, therefore, it can act in clarity upon the inner life of others. This is the principle of cultural creativity that Confucius accepted from the Book of Changes; a principle that will assuredly assert itself in the course of history in spite of momentary counter-currents. Richard Wilhem, Understanding the I Ching

(In) Famous Spirituality: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom

This essay explores the interrelatedness of spirituality, manhood, and race in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s most famous character Uncle Tom. While Uncle Tom has become a cultural type with many negative connotations, recent studies have re-evaluated Stowe’s achievement. This is the context to this essay’s central question: whether—and to what extent-- Stowe’s fictional creation achieved the ideal of a “fullness of self,” as formulated by W.E.B. Du Bois’ in his Souls of Black Folk (1903). In exploring this question, parallels are drawn with thoughts on the interrelations of gender and spirituality by Ralph Waldo Emerson and William James.

Trauma and Power in Postcolonial Literary Studies

When, in 1995, Geoffrey Hartman presented trauma theory in his influential article “On Traumatic Knowledge and Literary Studies” as offering a welcome “change of perspective” to literary studies, not only at the level of theory but also “of exegesis in the service of insights about human functioning” (544), he correctly predicted the huge impact that trauma theory would have on literary criticism. Part of the widespread impact of trauma theory has however been its critique by theorists and critics in the field who have pointed out many controversies, contradictions, and limitations in the theory originally conceptualized by Hartman, Cathy Caruth, and others of the Yale School. In postcolonial literary studies in particular, criticism of the dominant trauma paradigm has been a constant since trauma theory first appeared in this field. In 2008 several publications pointed out the limits of trauma theory for postcolonial studies, such as its depoliticizing and dehistoricizing tendencies. Roger Luckhurst remarked in The Trauma Question (2008) that in overlooking political concerns, trauma theory “shockingly fails to address atrocity, genocide and war” (213). In a special issue of Studies in the Novel (2008), devoted to a project to effectuate a “rapprochement” between trauma theory and postcolonial literary theory, trauma theory was presented in the introduction as having strengths for postcolonial literary studies to incorporate, but also weaknesses to be reconfigured.

Getting Ready to Stay Dead: Rites of Passage in William Faulkner's Novels

This article uses concepts from anthropology to explore the representation of rites of passage as crucial episodes in William Faulkners As I Lay Dying (1930), The Sound and the Fury (1929), and Light in August (1932). Rites of passage, as conceptualized by anthropologists, are transformative and integrative social forces. Death rites, in particular, function as cultural systems of signification that operate both within and beyond restrictions of temporality and historicity. These complex cultural dynamics inform the death episodes discussed in this article: Addie Bundrens nine-day funeral journey, Quentin Compsons last day and suicide and the ritual murder of Joe Christmas. The article argues that Faulkner dramatizes liminal mortuary rites in these major works not only as expressions of cultural tradition and social hierarchical structures, but also, and perhaps more importantly, as a system of signification that reveals societal injustice while also invoking a mythical realm that transcends cultural ideologies.

Reading Pleasure: 'Light in August' and the theory of the gendered gaze

This article discusses various components of the theory of the gendered gaze, in order to construct a framework for an analysis of how William Faulkner understood and fictionally presented the mechanism of the gaze in Light in August. Linking theory and praxis, this article explores the relationship between patriarchy and gender construction in Faulkners literary representation of visual structures in this major novel.

The books that lived: J.K. Rowling and the magic of storytelling

This essay addresses the question of “what makes a bestseller?” It seeks to come to a better understanding of the various factors that contribute significantly to the outstanding popular appeal and commercial success of bestsellers, using J.K. Rowling’s fiction as a case study. The reception of her work in quality media allows an exploration of Rowling’s phenomenal success with the Harry Potter series, and invites a comparison with the success of her next two novels, The Casual Vacancy (2012) and The Cuckoo’s Calling (2013), both written for adult readers. The context that the essay draws on is provided by literary theories about bestsellers and their features, rather than the commercial/marketing context of the bestseller. Also commenting on the influence of reviews on bestselling success, and the contested literary status of bestsellers, the essay hopes to shed some light on what constitutes “the magic of storytelling” in bestseller success.

A Creative Partnership: The Spiritual and the Sexual in Novels by Zakes Mda

Spirituality and sexuality are key notions in the novels of Zakes Mda, one of South Africas leading contemporary authors. In Mdas novels the mysterious interrelatedness of the spiritual and the sexual, in which art and creativity are vital elements, functions as a catalyst in individual and collective processes towards change. Suggesting that current literary conventions may be inadequate to a postcolonial criticism that seeks to explore representations of the interrelatedness of the spiritual and the sexual, this article presents the cultural theory of social anthropologist Mary Douglas as a useful and flexible conceptual framework for literary criticism that seeks to address this complexity. Douglass concepts of intrasocietal thought styles, the spirituality index and symbolic capital illuminate Mdas fictional representation of the sexual and spiritual in the context of themes of social turbulence, solidarity and transformation in his novels Ways of Dying (1995), set in the post-apartheid era, and The Heart of Redness (2000), set in the years leading up to the new millennium.