Traumatic Memory Research On Athol Fugard’s Plays In Blood Knot And Boseman And Lena

The racial discrimination and apartheid policy imposed on Africans by the white regime in South Africa have left a deep scar on the South African society.Since the white regime took political power from the aborigines of South Africa,the people of South Africa have fallen into the abyss of racism.Racial discrimination and absence of political power has spawned a surging wave of protest literature in South Africa.Literature serves as a mirror that clearly reflects the complex racial and interpersonal relationships in society.The complex social contradictions have inspired many South African writers to unfold the oppression and struggle that exists on the land of the South Africans.Writers with a strong sense of social responsibility are desperate to speak out for the underpriviledged and the colored who suffer from strong racial segregation,gender oppression,and mental trauma.They expressed their emotions and feelings through writing,in a hope to fight against social injustice with criticism and explore the cure for social illness.Among these writers,Athol Fugard is undoubtedly the most distinguished one.At present,there has been a series of related researches centered on Fugard and his representative works at home and abroad.Compared with foreign research,domestic research starts later and has less research results.Only one scholar has conducted a systematic and in-depth study of Fugard’s dramatic works based on the theory of space.In reality,Fugard’s scripts generally use simple scenes to highlight the inner feelings and emotional changes of the few characters who appear,and intend to reveal profound content through the description of the characterization of the character.And there is still a lack of relevant research on this feature.In view of this,different from the mainstream of African drama studies,this thesis is guided by the theory of traumatic memory and focuses on the reproduction and repair of traumatic memory,and conducts an in-depth analysis of trauma representation in Fugard’s representative works Boseman and Lena and Blood Knot.Cruelty is directly presented in front of the audience and readers.The research shows that Fugard has analyzed many details of pains and hardships experienced by the colored group and racial segregation at that time with his plain writing style.In addition,the thesis has discussed the writing strategy of providing more concrete details about trauma that has been used by the playwright and summarized the creation purpose of integrating his own understanding of traumatic memory into his works to guide traumatized people or people with similar experiences to realize a correct self-identity and fight against traumatic memory,which provides an objective reference for researchers and fans of African drama to better understand the cultural connotation and creative intention of his works.