GENERATIONAL TRAUMA IN SHERMAN ALEXIE’S AND JEROME ROTHENBERG’S SELECTED POETRY

Ala B. Ahmed

doi:10.26436/hjuoz.2024.12.4.1443

Article Details

GENERATIONAL TRAUMA IN SHERMAN ALEXIE’S AND JEROME ROTHENBERG’S SELECTED POETRY

Authors:

Ala B. Ahmed

Publisher:

University of Duhok

Journal:

Humanities Journal of University of Zakho Vol.12 Issue 4, pp.895-899

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

8/2024

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001367184

pISSN:

2664-4681

DOI:

10.26436/hjuoz.2024.12.4.1443

Keywords:

Abstract:

 Jewish and Native American history is widely recognized to have many similarities. The catastrophic events of the Holocaust and Native American colonization created trauma for centuries. This article attempts to investigate the portrayal of generational trauma in Sherman Alexie’s and Jerome Rothenberg’s poetry. Generational trauma refers to a trauma that has been inherited from one generation to another. It does not necessarily mean that an individual has to go through a direct traumatic event him/herself. Rather, it is transmitted through secondary memory which refers to recollecting memory and storytelling. Cathy Caruth’s psychoanalytical theory Unacclaimed Experience (1996) on historical trauma is utilized while analyzing the selected poems. Alexie and Rothenberg write poetry about their heritage, history, ancestors, and cultures. Moreover, this article aims to show how Rothenberg depicts the struggles of second/third-generation of Holocaust survivors, their detachment from their homelands, and the memory of the past. As well as investigating Alexie’s characterization of the issues related to Natives’ communities: such as alcoholism, sexual abuse, drug use, and family dysfunctions. These problems have existed hundreds of years after colonization.

Article Details

GENERATIONAL TRAUMA IN SHERMAN ALEXIE’S AND JEROME ROTHENBERG’S SELECTED POETRY

Authors: Ala B. Ahmed

Publisher: University of Duhok

Journal: Humanities Journal of University of Zakho Vol.12 Issue 4, pp.895-899

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 8/2024

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001367184

pISSN: 2664-4681

DOI: 10.26436/hjuoz.2024.12.4.1443

Holocaust

colonization

generational trauma

Sherman Alexie

Jerome Rothenberg

Issues

Authors:

Ala B. Ahmed

Publisher:

University of Duhok

Journal:

Humanities Journal of University of Zakho Vol.12 Issue 4, pp.895-899

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

8/2024

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001367184

pISSN:

2664-4681

DOI:

10.26436/hjuoz.2024.12.4.1443