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Trauma and World Literature: Blume Lempel: Survival and stimulus barrier
StressPoints
Date posted: 09/28/2023
Topic: Trauma and the Arts
I was not born mute. My silence is not genetic. Something jammed up inside me and I stopped speaking - when and why, I no longer remember. I listen to what people say, but I cannot answer them. In my mind, I speak to the shadows that populate my world, to the wind and the rain - and to the cat living outside my door. The cat is the one who insists on the separation, not me.
So begins “Even the Heavens Tell Lies,” a story written by Blume Lempel. Blume Lempel was born in 1907 in Khorostkov (now located in Ukraine), moved to Paris from where she fled at the outbreak of WWII, and lived in New York until her death in 1999. She composed only in Yiddish and was unknown to English readers until 2016 when a collection of her translated works, Oedipus in Brooklyn and Other Stories, appeared. Through stream-of-consciousness, flashbacks, and other temporal disruptions the poetic prose in her stories evokes the inner world of survivors of horror and of dislocation.
Trauma and world literature: ‘The No-No Boy’ by John Okada
StressPoints
Date posted: 06/28/2023
Topic: Trauma and the Arts
“No-no boys” were Japanese American young men who, after being drafted to enter the US military during WWII, answered “no” to two questions about their willingness to serve. They were imprisoned until the end of the war and then resumed their rights as US citizens. Further context is important. These young men were drafted out of concentration camps where they and all West Coast area residents of Japanese descent lived until the end of the war. They had been driven out of their homes, usually had to forfeit their possessions and almost every other aspect of their lives to live in conditions which were, in many ways, comparable to criminal imprisonment. The author himself experienced the internment, which the no-no boy of his novel endured, though unlike him Okada entered the military and flew reconnaissance missions during WWII.
Media Matters: Can we talk about how villains are made? Trauma and origin stories in popular media
StressPoints
Date posted: 02/23/2023
Topic: Trauma and the Arts
Superhero stories have come a long way since their first appearance in comic books. Their universal appeal is made evident in their box office dominance, with the Marvel franchise accounting, on its own, for almost half of the ten highest-grossing movies of all time (Childress & Staff, 2022). Clearly, the world has not gotten enough of good-hearted heroes defeating evil. But perhaps in reaction to the simplicity of this narrative, a new trend has emerged across many genres in popular culture, with the increasing popularity of arcs and storylines exploring the past of their nemeses: the “supervillains.”
Trauma and World Literature: Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
StressPoints
Date posted: 02/23/2023
Topic: Trauma and the Arts
Widely praised children’s author Jason Reynolds’ collection of linked short stories,
Look Both Ways, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, is featured in this column. As is made clear in the author biography, Reynolds was inspired by his own childhood experience. While designated a “middle school” work, it is structurally complex, and the prose style (including non-standard punctuation) is poetic. Nonetheless, consulted middle school faculty have assured me that it is a very accessible student and teacher favorite.
Media Matters: Staying Informed While Staying Safe: A Major Challenge in a World at War Described by the 24-Hour News Cycle
StressPoints
Date posted: 05/24/2022
Topic: Trauma and the Arts
For the past few months, the world has watched in horror as the invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold. Every day, viewers tune in to listen to more televised reports of indiscriminate bombings, civilian casualties, and fears/speculations of nuclear war. When journalists are not discussing the war in Ukraine, they often shift their focus to other fear-inducing topics such as global supply chain shortages, the rise in crime, pandemic deaths, or natural disasters. Reporting on international and local conflicts and other significant events is essential to raising awareness among the public of important issues and allowing journalists to counter misinformation and hold governments to account, yet the constant exposure to traumatic material can also be distressing for many viewers (Pfefferbaum et al., 2014). Although not officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a potential cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there is at least some evidence that media consumption can worsen mental health outcomes among adults and children (Pfefferbaum et al., 2019). Given the central role journalism plays in society and the impact mass media can have on well-being, it is worth exploring how our need for reliable information and connection through the news can be best balanced with our need for psychological safety.
Trauma and World Literature: Walt Whitman’s “The Wound Dresser”
StressPoints
Date posted: 03/31/2022
Topic: Trauma and the Arts
Perhaps 25 years ago, I spent an afternoon sorting through Duke University’s collection of Walt Whitman’s personal papers searching for anything he had written during the American Civil War (1861 – 1865). I knew that Whitman worked with casualties in army hospitals and, given that I was a psychiatrist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina (just a 15-minute walk from the University library where Whitman’s papers were stored), I hoped to find some observation of Whitman’s that could help me better understand the veterans of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War in my clinic.
Trauma and World Literature: World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
StressPoints
Date posted: 01/27/2022
Topic: Trauma and the Arts
A recent essay by Vivian Gornick addressed the destructive psychological power of humiliating experience. Our literary example in the current column is drawn from poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s justly praised memoir/nature appreciation
World of Wonders and illustrates
that it does not take such an extreme setting as war for humiliation to have a powerful effect.
Trauma and World Literature: A Tragedy (in One Act) By Christian Scott Green
StressPoints
Date posted: 12/2/2021
Topic: Trauma and the Arts
As contributing editors of this column, we have always encouraged submissions from writers and students of Literature. In this issue, we are pleased to present an offering from musician and poet Christian Scott Green. The author has provided an introductory statement which describes the inspiration for his poem and shares valuable insights into the process by which it was composed.