| Jhumpa Lahiri(1967-),one of the most celebrated Indian-American female writers,exhibits a dispassionate observation and deep understanding of the living circumstances of Indian immigrants.Since the publication of her debut short story collection Interpreter of Maladies in 1999,Lahiri has received great acclaim.The next year right after its publication,Lahiri won the “Pulitzer Prize for Fiction”,becoming the youngest person ever to win this prize,setting a record that still stands.Her second collection of short stories,Unaccustomed Earth,reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list upon its publication in 2008 and won first place in the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.Drawing on her own immigrant experience,Lahiri probes into the cultural clash and psychological trauma of ethnic minority immigrants under the multicultural background of the United States in her works,particularly in her short story collections.Therefore,framed by trauma theory,this thesis intends to explore the theme of trauma in her short stories of Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth.However,due to the large number of Lahiri’s short stories,it mainly focuses on nine typical short stories of trauma writing: “A Temporary Matter”,“When Mr.Pirzada Came to Dine”,“Interpreter of Maladies”,“The Real Durwan”,“Mrs.Sen’s”,“Unaccustomed Earth”,“A Choice of Accommodations”,“Only Goodness” and“Hema and Kaushik”.The thesis comprises five parts.The introduction briefly introduces Jhumpa Lahiri and her works first,then combs and analyzes literature at home and abroad.Last,it gives an overview of trauma theory and explains the significance of this study.Chapter One combines close reading with “clinical analysis” posed by Judith Herman to analyze the trauma symptoms displayed by the characters.In “The Real Durwan” and “When Mr.Pirzada Came to Dine”,the protagonists Boori Ma and Mr.Pirzada display the symptom of“hyperarousal”,constantly in a heightened state of arousal as if still in wartime.The secondgeneration immigrants in “A Choice of Accommodations”,“Only Goodness”,“Unaccustomed Earth” and “Hema and Kaushik” get stuck in traumatized memory and fall into “intrusion”.The victims,mainly female immigrants,in “Interpreter of Maladies”,“A Temporary Matter”,and“Mrs.Sen’ s” attempt to paralyze themselves in a state of dissociation and are ultimately devoid of the subjective consciousness in “Constriction”.Chapter Two explores the causes of trauma from socio-cultural and individual perspectives.Firstly,under the haze of the India-Pakistan war,the living circumstances of ethnic minorities have deteriorated.The contradictory relationship between “history” and “histories” under the historical narrative has aggravated the psychological trauma of the diaspora.In addition,the immigrants’ traumatic experience is inextricably linked to culture influence.In the last,family crisis breeds conflicts between intergeneration and marriage and brings about ethical dilemma,which are manifested as individual factors for trauma.Chapter Three analyzes the characters’ exploration of trauma healing.After the war,traumatized people attempt to establish a sense of security and seek a safe environment and community for trauma sharing.In addition,remembrance and mourning are adopted by the traumatized in dilemma to restore the original appearance of trauma and achieve the reconstruction of scattered memory.Finally,rebuilding a sense of social connection is key to regaining autonomy.Under the particular era and cultural context,the traumatized people integrate their traumatic experiences into lives to increase their sense of power and control in the“third space”,in which the cosmopolitan tendency is evident.The last part is the conclusion.Lahiri’s short stories describe the traumatic experiences of Indian diaspora groups,reflecting their plight of survival in the “gap” and their strong desire to seek a sense of belonging,embodying profound trauma themes.While paying attention to the psychological trauma of immigrants,Lahiri also conveys the possibility of dialogue between different cultures in the context of globalization in her works,which is precisely the means by which post-colonial culture bridges differences,resolves exile,and achieves trauma healing. |
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