Trauma and Transformation in African Literature ─ Writing Wrongs

This book fills a gap in the field of contemporary trauma studies by interrogating the relevance of trauma for African literatures. Until recently, the engagement of literary theory with the interdisciplinary field of trauma studies has focused principally on texts and examples from Europe and North America. But how relevant is trauma theory in a non-Western literary context like Africa? And in what ways might African literatures enrich or alter our understandings of trauma? The book first frames what is generally meant by trauma theory, highlighting key conceptual problems related to the notion of trauma, and offering a model for its relevance in the African context. Kurtz argues that a thoughtful application of trauma theory in relation to African literatures is in fact a productive exercise, and furthermore that the benefits of this exercise include not only what it can do for African literature, but also what it can do for trauma studies. However, he also makes the case for weakening some of the more ambitious claims of trauma theory. Looking at the healing potential of literature from an African context requires us to understand trauma healing within the larger project of peacebuilding, with an emphasis on the transformative potential of what he terms the African moral imagination, as embodied in the creative work of its writers. The study includes readings of selected works by Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Daniachew Worku, Ivan Vladislavic, Chimamanda Adichie and Nurrudin Farah, as case studies for how African literature can influence our understanding of trauma and trauma healing. This will be a valuable volume for those with interests in current trends and developments in trauma studies, African literary studies, postcolonial studies, and memory studies.

J. Roger Kurtz is Professor of English at The College at Brockport, State University of New York, USA.