Trauma And Recovery In Paul Auster’s In The Country Of Last Things

Paul Auster(1947-)is now heralded as one of America’s most praised contemporary writers.In many of his masterpieces,Auster expresses his profound concern for the living condition and the psychological state of modern people.Among these works,In the Country of Last Things(1987)is a typical representative.This novel,written in epistolary style,depicts the numerous traumatic experiences of a group of nobodies in a postapocalyptic metropolis.More importantly,it also indicates that even in the midst of the most brutal realities,traumatized individuals can still find avenues of recovery and healing.With the help of trauma theory,this thesis attempts to analyze the manifestations of trauma,the causes of trauma,and the possible ways of trauma recovery of the urban residents in the novel,so as to explore the significance of Auster’s trauma writing.Besides the Introduction and Conclusion,this thesis is divided into three chapters.The Introduction includes an introduction to Auster’s life experiences and his literary achievements,the primary plot of In the Country of Last Things,a detailed literature review of the novel,an overview of trauma theory,and the main content of the thesis.Chapter One provides a detailed analysis of the traumatic manifestations of the characters.In the fictional city,almost all residents are exposed to overwhelming traumatic events.Their invisible psychic wounds are mainly demonstrated in various traumatic symptoms,the more typical of which include the dissociation of memory,consciousness and identity,hypervigilance to threats,and avoidance of the traumatic memories and the present situation.Chapter Two explores the traumatic causes of the characters.The individual traumatic experiences of the residents are attributed to political upheaval,economic collapse,and ecological degradation.Chapter Three analyzes the possible ways of recovery from trauma.The traumatized characters represented by Anna,her lover,and her friends are on the road to trauma recovery by taking positive actions,mainly including the construction of sanctuary spaces,the development of new relationships,and the reconstruction of trauma stories.Based on the above discussion and analysis,the Conclusion points out that the salvation of some traumatized characters serves as an encouragement to modern people who have been exposed to various predicaments and traumas.It embodies Auster’s profound solicitude for the psychological state of modern people.With the help of trauma theory,this thesis attempts to contribute a new perspective to the research on Auster’s works and hopes to provide some enlightenment for modern people in the process of recovery from trauma.