Cathy Caruth's Theory Of Psychological Trauma
Introduction Trauma has been called a symptom of the age (Miller and Tougaw 1), and the twentieth century has been marked as an era of "historical trauma," incorporating "occasions for communal mourning too numerous to chronicle" (Henke xi). This study aims at investigating the theory of psychological trauma resulting from war by analyzing selected works by Tim O'Brien and Larry Heinemann. In Caruth’s view, there is no solid definition for psychological trauma. She contends that, at different times, different descriptions have been given to severe emotional shock, most of them under different names (Caruth, Unclaimed Experience 117). In Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative and History, Cathy Caruth defines trauma as "the response to an …show more content…
After the Vietnam War was over, the Veterans’ Administration authorized an extensive investigation into the effects of wartime experiences on the lives of combatants who were returning home. An in-depth research into the aftermath of Vietnam described the syndrome of “post-traumatic stress disorder” and definitely proved its close connection to “combat exposure.” Both the authentic moral nature of the antiwar crusade and the awful American realization of defeat in a defamed war had enabled the recognition of psychological trauma as a permanent heritage of the Vietnam War. Herman asserts that, “in 1980, for the first time, the characteristic syndrome of psychological trauma became a “real” diagnosis” (Herman 27-28). According to Cathy Caruth, at long last, in 1980, the American Psychiatric Association decided to recognize and include in the new edition of its official diagnostic manual of mental disorders a new category: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. This designation came to comprise signs of illnesses which had been called shell shock, battle fatigue, combat neurosis, or traumatic neurosis throughout the twentieth century and related to reactions to both disasters of nature and atrocities produced by human beings (Caruth, Unclaimed Experience
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PTSD In The Things They Carried Essay
809 Words | 4 PagesPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder in The Things They Carried During the turbulent times of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men entered the warzone and came face-to-face with unimaginable scenes of death, destruction, and turmoil. While some perished in the dense Asian jungles, others returned to American soil and were forced to confront their lingering combat trauma. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried provides distinct instances of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and reveals the psychological trauma felt by soldiers in the Vietnam War. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD for short, is the most common mental illness affecting soldiers both on and off the battlefield.
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145 Words | 1 PagesDeMeester used the article explain the trauma and recovery in modern past was books. DeMeester sees the Septimus’ character established the paradigm of the shell shock war veterans and reveal the tragedy of post war reintegration. Woolf added the outlook of a psychological condition named post- traumatic stress disorder. DeMeester comments; “In her novel, Woolf depicts a psychological condition which scientist would not understand until half a century later, and her stream of circumstances narrative, brilliantly illustrate the fragment mind of trauma victim and survivor.
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