Construct Identities From Trauma

Jhumpa Lahiri is a famous contemporary Indian American writer,who has won many significant awards.As her debut novel published in 2003,The Namesake vividly depicts the living conditions,cultural concepts and psychological predicaments of the two South Asian immigrant generations in the United States.Compared with her prestigious Interpreter of Maladies,researches on The Namesake,especially from psychological perspective,are relatively scarce.This perspective,which reflects Lahiri’s keen insight and distinct skills,as well as forward ideology,deserves further exploration.Therefore,on the basis of Judith Herman’s theory on psychological trauma,this thesis delves into the identity construction from trauma writing in Lahiri’s The Namesake.Based on Herman’s trauma theory,the thesis probes into the trauma writing and identity construction in the novel at three levels,namely personal,familial and communal aspects.From rhetorical perspective,this thesis explores various trauma symptoms,including hyperarousal,intrusion and constriction,and characters’persistent endeavors for trauma recovery,such as the establishment of safety and stabilization,the remembrance and mourning,and the re-connection with ordinary life.Though their unremitting efforts,protagonists gradually cultivate identities at different levels,including the individual identity as independence and self-value,reconciliation and commonality,the familial identity as understanding and support,connection and balance,reconciliation and responsibility,as well as the communal identity as sense of belonging,security and openness,humanity and universality,providing them with identity of world citizenship and cultural translator.In general,the analysis of identity cultivation at different levels contributes to the integrity of whole identity as individuals,familial and communal members with such psychological capacities as competence and autonomy,trust and intimacy,as well as initiative.The exploration of psychological trauma from the perspective of rhetoric as demonstrated in this thesis aims to seek a new angle in trauma interpretation,making the condensed psychology externalized and endowing the trauma writing with aesthetics of poetry.And the interpretation of identity construction from trauma delves into the minor immigrants’complex inner world and eager identity pursuit,with the hope of providing some enlightenment in identity construction and cross-cultural research in the context of globalization.