Trauma and the Popular
A guest lecture by Dr. Swatie
The English Literary Association of LSR hosted a session on Trauma and The Popular on 21st October 2021. The lecture delivered by Prof. Swatie was largely attended by the students of the English Department.
Prof. Swatie began with an overview of the lecture and briefly explained what the title of the lecture implied. This was followed by a detailed etymology of the word ‘trauma.’ The meaning of ‘trauma’ changed with time from the Greek word, τραῦμα, meaning wound to ‘railway spine’ in 1866. She added how the railway accident victims had nervous symptoms without any possible aetiology and linked this with the previous talk on “Memory, Cognition and Modernism” by talking about shell shock in World War I. She then referred to Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis and for him, the understanding of trauma was through traumatic neurosis. A reference to Cathy Caruth’s definition of trauma was also made.
Prof. Swatie then argued that trauma as an aesthetic hampers cognition, witnessing, and representation. While explaining this, she mentioned the slippages in memory due to trauma; one can not fully recall what happened yet a person goes back to it. Talking about the representation of the lack of complete comprehension of trauma in art Prof. Swatie named a few canonical texts and movies in trauma theory. In Toni Morrison's Beloved, the recurring image of the ghost exemplifies trauma. Memory and post-memory is also an important aspect in ‘Trauma and the Popular'. Linking it to trauma and the avant-garde, she also talked about Bakhtin’s ‘chronotope and the disruption of time and space due to trauma. The idea of popular culture and Maus as Avant-Garde aesthetic was also discussed. The traumatic core in Maus linked it to the other avant-garde and popular trauma graphic novels.
After the talk, the floor was opened for questions from the audience. This was followed by a virtual exhibition curated by the Archives team.
Prof. Swatie began with an overview of the lecture and briefly explained what the title of the lecture implied. This was followed by a detailed etymology of the word ‘trauma.’ The meaning of ‘trauma’ changed with time from the Greek word, τραῦμα, meaning wound to ‘railway spine’ in 1866. She added how the railway accident victims had nervous symptoms without any possible aetiology and linked this with the previous talk on “Memory, Cognition and Modernism” by talking about shell shock in World War I. She then referred to Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis and for him, the understanding of trauma was through traumatic neurosis. A reference to Cathy Caruth’s definition of trauma was also made.
Prof. Swatie then argued that trauma as an aesthetic hampers cognition, witnessing, and representation. While explaining this, she mentioned the slippages in memory due to trauma; one can not fully recall what happened yet a person goes back to it. Talking about the representation of the lack of complete comprehension of trauma in art Prof. Swatie named a few canonical texts and movies in trauma theory. In Toni Morrison's Beloved, the recurring image of the ghost exemplifies trauma. Memory and post-memory is also an important aspect in ‘Trauma and the Popular'. Linking it to trauma and the avant-garde, she also talked about Bakhtin’s ‘chronotope and the disruption of time and space due to trauma. The idea of popular culture and Maus as Avant-Garde aesthetic was also discussed. The traumatic core in Maus linked it to the other avant-garde and popular trauma graphic novels.
After the talk, the floor was opened for questions from the audience. This was followed by a virtual exhibition curated by the Archives team.
Written by Purbali Paul