“To give form to what cannot be comprehended”: Trauma in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Martin Amis’s Time’s Arrow
Aleksandra Czajkowska
University of Białystok, PolandAleksandra Czajkowska is an English Philology graduate at the University of Białystok. In 2021, she defended her MA thesis in the field of Literary Studies. Her primary literary interests include literature concerned with the Second World War and psychological fiction.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7772-1880
Abstract
The primary objective of this article is the analysis of trauma in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Martin Amis’s Time’s Arrow. It is argued that through the deployment of experimental literary techniques (particularly destabilized and non-linear narratives) these two novels offer valuable insights into the mechanisms of a traumatized mind and help to understand the uncertain sense of the self experienced by those who suffer from traumatic memories.
Keywords:
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five, Martin Amis, Time’s Arrow, trauma, PTSD, war, 20th centuryReferences
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University of Białystok, Poland
Aleksandra Czajkowska is an English Philology graduate at the University of Białystok. In 2021, she defended her MA thesis in the field of Literary Studies. Her primary literary interests include literature concerned with the Second World War and psychological fiction.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7772-1880
