NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ978224
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 16
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0095-182X
EISSN: N/A
"We Were Those Who Walked out of Bullets and Hunger": Representation of Trauma and Healing in "Solar Storms"
Vernon, Irene S.
American Indian Quarterly, v36 n1 p34-49 Win 2012
Scholars Kali Tal and Cathy Caruth express the importance of trauma literature as "the need to tell and retell the story of the traumatic experience, to make it "real" both to the victim and to the community," and to tell "a reality or truth that is not otherwise available." In "Solar Storms" Linda Hogan vividly recounts the consequences of domination and subordination of three generations of Native women in the community known as Adam's Rib and the destruction of their land and culture. In the author's exploration of "Solar Storms," she gives voice to the traumatic wound through presenting the truth of colonial practices and their severe and tragic consequences. Through the protagonist, Angela Jensen (aka Angel), Hogan conveys a shocking individual experience while also expressing the collective trauma and suffering of Native people. In narrating Angel's traumatic past and search for wholeness, Hogan reveals an "intergenerational trauma", the idea that if trauma among a population is not addressed, the consequences can continue into subsequent generations, becoming more severe with each passing. Native children, for example, today carry the traumas of their parents and grandparents who experienced the horrors of the Indian boarding schools that forcefully removed them from their homes, beat them for speaking their languages, and raised them in a culture not their own. Hogan talks about the need to write about the land, history, old stories, violence, and lost children to help readers develop a deeper understanding of the destruction and survival of Native families. For those not familiar with violence among Natives, "Solar Storms" brings the issue to the forefront, representing its terror. (Contains 38 notes.)
University of Nebraska Press. 1111 Lincoln Mall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0630. Tel: 800-755-1105; Fax: 800-526-2617; e-mail: presswebmail@unl.edu; Web site: http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/catalog/categoryinfo.aspx?cid=163
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A