Å fortelle gjennom traumer

Abstract

Telling through trauma. Trauma representation in Marguerite Duras' Emily L. This article discusses how psychological trauma can be represented in literature and, more specifically, how it is represented in Marguerite Duras’ novel Emily L. (1987). The novel has mostly been read biographically, yet I argue that in doing this, one ignores the textual structures. I therefore propose a reading based on aspects of the text itself. My claim is that, despite rarely thematizing trauma explicitly, the novel can be classified as trauma fiction. Trauma is represented through voice and focalization, resulting not only in a story about a traumatized person, but a story told through a traumatized perspective. I discuss two main plot lines, both concerning the relationship between the narrator’s speech and what she is talking about. Firstly, I explore how trauma dissolves the border between past and present. I then analyze changes in perspective, arguing that, paradoxically, the narrator’s trauma is more present where she is concealed in the text. Finally, I discuss the possibility of healing.

Keywords

• trauma
• trauma fiction
• Marguerite Duras
• perspective
• focalization
• traumafiction