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PSYCHOANALYSIS AND DREAMS IN TONI MORRISON’S BELOVED: EXPLORING CONTINUITIES AND RUPTURES OF TRAUMA CYCLES

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Date Issued:
2022
Abstract/Description:
“Psychoanalysis and Dreams in Toni Morrison’s Beloved: Exploring Continuities and Ruptures of Trauma Cycles,” explores the function of dreams as they relate to trauma and memory. This thesis argues that a character’s engagement with their dreams leads to a healing discontinuity of traumatic cycles, while dreams left untouched likely result in historical and transgenerational cycles and the continuation of personal trauma and its symptoms. This thesis compares the dreams of the characters Beloved and Denver. In part because Morrison notes her influence from both African and Western traditions, this paper argues that a sufficient understanding of dreams in her work requires a multiplicity of approaches. This thesis draws on a plurality of ideas from African and Western perspectives of dreams, the intersections of race and psychoanalysis, and trauma theory. The focus on dreams extends the arguments of critics who analyze trauma in Beloved more generally.
Title: PSYCHOANALYSIS AND DREAMS IN TONI MORRISON’S BELOVED: EXPLORING CONTINUITIES AND RUPTURES OF TRAUMA CYCLES.
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Name(s): Peter, Rebecca M. , author
Dagbovie-Mullins, Sika , Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Department of English
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2022
Date Issued: 2022
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 61 p.
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: “Psychoanalysis and Dreams in Toni Morrison’s Beloved: Exploring Continuities and Ruptures of Trauma Cycles,” explores the function of dreams as they relate to trauma and memory. This thesis argues that a character’s engagement with their dreams leads to a healing discontinuity of traumatic cycles, while dreams left untouched likely result in historical and transgenerational cycles and the continuation of personal trauma and its symptoms. This thesis compares the dreams of the characters Beloved and Denver. In part because Morrison notes her influence from both African and Western traditions, this paper argues that a sufficient understanding of dreams in her work requires a multiplicity of approaches. This thesis draws on a plurality of ideas from African and Western perspectives of dreams, the intersections of race and psychoanalysis, and trauma theory. The focus on dreams extends the arguments of critics who analyze trauma in Beloved more generally.
Identifier: FA00013909 (IID)
Degree granted: Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2022.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Morrison, Toni. Beloved
American literature
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013909
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.