A Study Of The Gravedigger's Daughter From The Perspective Of Trauma Theory

Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most prolific and influential contemporary American writers,whose works have diverse styles and profound themes.The Gravedigger's Daughter,her 36th novel which was published in 2007,narrates the bitter experience of a German Jewish immigrant family in America through realistic writing.The thread running through the novel is the protagonist Rebecca Schwart's frustrating life-long story.The novel is a masterpiece that indicates Oates' shift of creative direction to Jewish theme,through which the embarrassing circumstances that Jewish people endured are fully exposed and hence Oates' humanistic concerns about the Jews are manifested.This thesis aims to go through a close reading of the novel in light of trauma theory,focusing on the trauma and recovery process of the three characters,including Rebecca,Jacob,and Anna.Based on trauma theory,the thesis discusses the psychological sufferings of the Schwarts as Jewish immigrants living in America from three aspects,which are the traumatic symptoms,the causes,and the recovery process,respectively.This thesis,through an elaborate study of the novel,represents the characters' difficult living situation,exposes the discrimination against Jewish immigrants in American society in mid-20th century,and shows Oates' deep sympathy for Jewish people's miseries.The thesis is composed of six parts.Chapter one introduces the writing career of Joyce Carol Oates and her representative works,including a brief introduction to the story of the The Gravedigger s Daughter,reviews the studies conducted on the novel at home and abroad,and then digs out the significance of this thesis.Chapter two gives a detailed account of the development of trauma theory and its key concepts.The three climax stages of the study of trauma are summarized and the main symptoms of PTSD are introduced,which provides a theoretical framework for the text analysis.Chapter three analyzes the traumatic symptoms of the Schwarts in The Gravedigger 's Daughter.The three characters' traumatic symptoms and the far-reaching impacts are discussed through a combination of theory and text.Chapter four explores the causes resulting in the three characters' trauma from familial factor,cultural factor,and racial factor,aiming to reflect that various factors lead to the trauma.The three characters have to strive in dire straits with unspeakable trauma caused by male violence in family,the confusion of dual cultural identity,and the racial discrimination in America under the influence of anti-Semitism.Chapter five discusses the characters' tentative attempts to recover from their own trauma.Rebecca is a fine example who finally walks out of shadow of trauma through restoring relationship with the others,recognizing her Jewish identity,and narrating the traumatic experiences.Jacob chooses to end the emotional sufferings by committing suicide,which can be regarded as a negative recovery.However,Anna is always controlled by patriarchal tyranny owing to her weakness and passive attitude.She is killed by her husband at last,failing to recover from trauma.Chapter six summarizes the main points of the thesis.This thesis is an active endeavor to discuss possible ways to reconstruct self-identity so as to work through trauma in light of trauma theory.What's more,the study helps the readers to get a deeper understanding of the novel and arouses their concerns about the living conditions of ethnic groups.