Cultural Trauma And Healing In James Baldwin’s Another Country

James Baldwin (1924-1987) is regarded as one of the greatest African Americanwriters in the20th century. The suffering of Afro-Americans and white women isdescribed in Another Country (1962), representing the trauma to them due to race and sexdiscrimination. Combining with the related historical and cultural background, thisresearch provides a new insight into the study on James Baldwin from the perspective ofcultural trauma.The construction of the cultural trauma is intimately connected with collectivememory and collective identity. In Another Country, based on a series of traumaticexperience in daily life, especially in interracial sexuality, the collective memory of thetwo Afro-Americans is constructed. Due to the repeated experience of the trauma and thedeep influence of slavery, the character’s collective memory is strengthened. Thus, thedouble consciousness and identity crisis are generated. They couldn’t correctly treat theinterracial sexuality and make themselves hurt. In Another Country, the collective memoryof the two white women is rotted in the humble status of women. Identity recognition ofcharacters in the novel is affected by the collective identity. The white women completelyagree with such collective memory. In spite of male sexual abuse and unequal treatment,they are forced to keep silence and thus lack of words. The trauma exists continuously.Working through the trauma and correctly dealing with the relation between traumaticmemory and real life could heal the trauma they suffered. In Another Country, speakingand listening are two important ways for releasing trauma. Vivaldo’s listening helps Idabuild a sense of security, making her bravely face the previous traumatic experiences. Ida’sspeaking enables Ida to release her trauma. Besides, fulfilling the identity recognition ofthe carrier groups is the key to heal trauma. Because of Ida’s special traumatic experienceand traumatic memory, the character is confounded about her identity. Finally, whencommunicating with Vivaldo, she discovers who she is and identifies herself, thuseventually healing of the trauma.Baldwin represents people’s terribly traumatic experience in this novel. The depictionurges human beings to think of existence dilemma and provoke their concerns towardhumanity. The construction of cultural trauma intends to provoke more public attentionand provide a way to heal the cultural trauma of women and Afro-Americans.