Scholars' Repository

J. D. SALINGER’S EXPLORATIONS OF WAR TRAUMA

Hedges, Jennifer J. D. SALINGER’S EXPLORATIONS OF WAR TRAUMA. 2020. Radford University, Thesis. Radford University Scholars' Repository.

PDF
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives.

Download (469kB)

Abstract

The study analyzes the various traumatic experiences of Salinger’s characters during World War II as well as the responses of soldiers enduring these horrific events. Chapter One introduces Salinger’s experiences during WWII as they relate to his exploration of trauma in his fiction. His war experiences illuminate the trauma his characters, and real soldiers, encountered during war. The use of contemporary trauma theory by Judith Herman, Cathy Caruth, and Dominick LaCapra advances my analysis by using their concepts regarding responses, symptoms, and processes of recovery from trauma. Chapter Two utilizes these concepts in a more in-depth way to examine Salinger’s later stories, which illustrate how soldiers in active combat and veterans who have survived war attempt to put their trauma into narrative form, hoping to cope with, understand, and recover from their war experiences.

Item Type: Thesis
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PR English literature
P Language and Literature > PS American literature
Divisions: Radford University > College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences > Department of English
Date Deposited: 28 Sep 2020 14:22
Last Modified: 20 Apr 2023 18:09
URI: http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/612

Administrative Actions

View Item View Item