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Moving Ever Forward: Reading the Significance of Motion and Space as a Representation of Trauma in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon and Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad
| Title: | Moving Ever Forward: Reading the Significance of Motion and Space as a Representation of Trauma in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon and Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. |
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| Name(s): |
Richmond, Samantha, author Furman, Andrew, Thesis advisor Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Department of English |
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| Type of Resource: | text | |
| Genre: | Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation | |
| Date Created: | 2017 | |
| Date Issued: | 2017 | |
| Publisher: | Florida Atlantic University | |
| Place of Publication: | Boca Raton, Fla. | |
| Physical Form: | application/pdf | |
| Extent: | 52 p. | |
| Language(s): | English | |
| Summary: | This thesis argues that three models of trauma theory, which include traditional trauma theory, postcolonial trauma theory, and cultural trauma theory, must be joined to fully understand the trauma experienced by African Americans within the novels Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. By implementing these three theories, we can see how each novel’s main character is exploring and learning about African American trauma and better understand how an adjustment of space and time creates the possibility for the implementation of trauma theory. Each novel presents a journey, and it is through this movement through space that each character can serve as a witness to African American trauma. This is done in Morrison’s text by condensing the geographical space of the American north and south into one town, which serves to pluralize African American culture. In Whitehead’s text, American history is removed from its chronological place, which creates a duality that instills Freud’s theory of the uncanny within both the character and the reader. | |
| Identifier: | FA00004839 (IID) | |
| Degree granted: | Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. | |
| Collection: | FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection | |
| Note(s): | Includes bibliography. | |
| Subject(s): |
Psychic trauma. Psychic trauma--African Americans. American literature--African American authors--History and criticism--Theory, etc. Underground Railroad--Fiction. African American families--Fiction. Morrison, Toni.--Song of Solomon--Criticism and interpretation. Whitehead, Colson--1969---Underground railroad--Criticism and interpretation. |
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| Held by: | Florida Atlantic University Libraries | |
| Sublocation: | Digital Library | |
| Links: | http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004839 | |
| Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004839 | |
| Use and Reproduction: | Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder. | |
| Use and Reproduction: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
| Host Institution: | FAU | |
| Is Part of Series: | Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections. |
