Recycling Trauma: An Ecocritical Approach to Healing Narratives

Abstract

This thesis presents a comparative study of two healing narratives namely Ceremony (1977) by the Mexican American writer Leslie Marmon Silko and The Lightning Tree (2006) by the Irish writer P. J. Curtis. It provides an ecocritical analysis of these two novels through the consideration of the crucial role nature plays in individual and communal healing. In particular, this study examines the overriding theme of healing by delineating the different narrative healing strategies employed to recycle the trauma caused by the devastating colonial encounter between the colonized, the Irish and the Native Americans, and the conquistadors. Also, this paper considers how the Burren region of North County Clare and the Laguna reservation are set as ecological worlds in opposition to the modern anthropocentric world. Closely related to the theme of healing are the rich symbolism and literary motifs used throughout both works to affirm the importance of natural elements in healing the characters’ wounds and boosting their sense of belonging and identity. Therefore, the research probes into the symbols and motifs characterizing the two works. This thesis seeks to examine the narrative structure both writers used in writing their literary productions. Evidently, their narrative structures seem to challenge the Western standard literary structure. The work concludes with the statement of what the concept of healing represents for each culture / literature / text.