Although the use of children in warfare is not a recent issue, child soldiering has received increasing attention throughout the past two decades. This trend led to a rapid increase of literary works that deal with the topic of child soldiers, both fictional and autobiographical. The topic of child soldiers often goes hand in hand with the topic of trauma and traumatization. Repeated exposure to overwhelming danger and life-threatening experiences can leave children with severe mental ill-health such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and personality changes. Literary works draw attention to the relationship between child soldiers and trauma as well as to the difficult relationship between trauma and representability in this context. This analysis attempts to contribute to the literary research of how trauma is represented in child soldier literature and to increase awareness of this topic on an academic level.
As this analysis is meant to make a small contribution to the literary research on child soldier literature, it merely focuses on two narrations: Uzodinma Iweala's Beasts of No Nation (2006) and Emmanuel Jal's Warchild (2009). These two books were chosen based on the great differences of both the narrations and the authors'background. Beasts of No Nation (BoNN) tells a fictional story, whereas Warchild is an autobiography. Uzodinma Iweala is an African American writer with Nigerian roots and BoNN can be seen as a postmodern novel as it uses various postmodern and experimental narrative techniques. Emmanuel Jal (Jal), in contrast, was born and raised in Sudan and fought as a child soldier. Warchild is an autobiography about his life as a child soldier, before and afterwards. It mostly uses traditional narrative forms to recount Jal's experiences. Based on these differences, the two books can serve as good examples of how trauma can be represented in child soldier literature...
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. What is Trauma?
2.1 Definition
2.2 Traumatic Memory
3. Theoretical Framework - Trauma in Literature
3.1 Trauma and Literary Studies
3.2. Trauma Fiction
3.3. Autobiography: Trauma, Truth and Public Response
3.4. Trauma Theory and Postcolonial Literary Studies
4. Introduction to Child Soldiers
5. Trauma in Uzodinma Iweala's Beasts of No Nations
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Beasts of No Nation as Trauma Fiction
5.3 The Impact of War and Trauma on Agu's Identity – His Struggle for Humanity
5.4 The Representation of Trauma in Beasts of No Nation
6. Trauma in Emmanuel Jal's Warchild
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Warchild as Autobiography
6.3 The Impact of War and Trauma on Jal's Identity – His Need for Revenge
6.3.1 Reasons of Jal becoming a Child Soldier
6.3.2 Being an actual Child Soldier
6.4 The Representation of Trauma in Warchild
6.4.1 The Representation of Traumatic Events
6.4.2 Leaving the Armed Group – Acting out
6.4.3 Working through his Trauma
7. Discussion
7.1. Trauma Fiction versus Autobiography
7.2. Similarities and Differences of the Circumstances and Main Protagonists – Identity Struggle in the Books
7.3 The Representation of Traumatic Experiences in Beasts of No Nation and Warchild
7.4 Testimony and Social Activism in Warchild and Beasts of No Nation
7.5 European Trauma Theory and Postcolonialism in Warchild and Beasts of No Nation
8. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Key Themes
This thesis examines the representation of trauma in literature focusing on the experiences of child soldiers, specifically analyzing Uzodinma Iweala's fictional novel Beasts of No Nation and Emmanuel Jal's autobiography Warchild. The central research question explores how different narrative forms—fictional versus autobiographical—influence the representation of traumatic experiences and identity formation in child soldiers, while critically evaluating the applicability of Western trauma theories to non-Western, postcolonial contexts.
- Representation of trauma through fictional vs. autobiographical narrative techniques.
- The psychological impact of war on child soldier identity, specifically focusing on "splitting" and dehumanization.
- Comparative analysis of Western trauma theories versus postcolonial literary perspectives.
- The role of language, silence, and testimonial writing in the process of "working through" trauma.
- The intersection of complicity, guilt, and agency in child soldier narratives.
Excerpt from the Book
5.2 Beasts of No Nation as Trauma Fiction
The novel can be seen as trauma fiction, as Iweala illustrates Agu's experiences not only through its content but also through its form. The story is characterized by intertextuality, temporal and narrative disjunction, repetition, dissociation and experimental narrative techniques (Deutsch, The Grim and the Dead; Center for Global Development, Child Soldiers).
BoNN does not have a lot of intertextual references, but the ones that exist are related to pain, human rights violations, uprisings and especially dehumanization. The title 'Beasts of No Nation' refers to a song by the Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, which is about political leaders who metamorphose into “animals in human skin” (Hron, Ora na-azu nwa 40) and “dash us human rights” (40). Similarly, dehumanization is also an important topic in BoNN (40). The fact that Iweala begins his novel with two quotes that also point to animality and bestiality from totally different times and continents reinforces, together with the setting in an unnamed country, Iweala's statement that child soldiering and its consequences is a universal issue that isn't bound to any country or time in history.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the growing global issue of child soldiers and introduces the two selected narratives, Beasts of No Nation and Warchild, as case studies for analyzing the representation of trauma in literature.
2. What is Trauma?: Provides a foundational definition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and explains key psychological concepts like traumatic memory and the Freudian notion of "Nachträglichkeit."
3. Theoretical Framework - Trauma in Literature: Discusses various literary theories regarding trauma representation, including works by Cathy Caruth, Shoshana Felman, Dori Laub, Dominick LaCapra, and Joshua Pederson.
4. Introduction to Child Soldiers: Defines the term "child soldier" and contextualizes the phenomenon within modern civil wars, highlighting the role of abduction, forced recruitment, and voluntary enlistment.
5. Trauma in Uzodinma Iweala's Beasts of No Nations: Analyzes the novel’s experimental language and narrative techniques, arguing that it functions as trauma fiction to convey the confusion and identity splitting experienced by its protagonist, Agu.
6. Trauma in Emmanuel Jal's Warchild: Examines how the autobiographical genre and chronological storytelling in Warchild depict the author’s survival, his transformation from soldier to activist, and his eventual "working through" of trauma.
7. Discussion: Compares both narratives regarding their formal structures, their representation of traumatic symptoms, and their engagement with postcolonial and Western trauma theories.
8. Conclusion: Summarizes the thesis findings, confirming that while both narratives effectively represent trauma, their differing styles (fictional vs. autobiographical) fulfill distinct roles in educating the reader and advocating for social change.
Keywords
Child soldiers, Trauma, Trauma fiction, Autobiography, Postcolonialism, Identity splitting, Testimony, Narrative memory, Dehumanization, Working through, Acting out, Representation, Conflict, Survival, Social activism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
This research focuses on the representation of trauma in literature concerning child soldiers, specifically analyzing how the novels Beasts of No Nation and Warchild translate traumatic experiences into narrative forms.
What are the main thematic areas of the analysis?
The core themes include the psychological impacts of war on children, the role of narrative structure in conveying trauma, the contrast between fictional and autobiographical depictions, and the application of Western trauma theories to non-Western contexts.
What is the central research question?
The research explores whether different narrative forms, such as fictional storytelling and autobiographical writing, result in fundamentally different depictions of trauma in child soldiers, and how these depictions challenge or confirm existing literary trauma theories.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The analysis utilizes a qualitative literary and comparative methodology, grounding its examination in established literary trauma theories (e.g., Caruth, LaCapra, Pederson) and applying these to the analysis of the two primary texts.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body covers a definition of trauma and its literary theories, an introduction to child soldiering, individual in-depth analyses of how trauma is portrayed in Beasts of No Nation and Warchild, and a final comparative discussion of the findings.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include child soldiers, trauma, trauma fiction, autobiography, identity splitting, postcolonialism, and narrative memory.
How does Beasts of No Nation uniquely represent trauma?
Iweala’s work uses experimental, postmodern narrative techniques and Pidgin English to mimic the confused, disoriented, and emotionally heightened state of a child suffering from trauma, emphasizing "acting out."
What distinguishes Warchild in its approach to trauma?
Warchild follows a more traditional, chronological autobiographical structure, which allows the narrator to demonstrate a process of "working through" his trauma, ultimately transitioning from a soldier to a human rights activist.
Why is the concept of "splitting" important to this thesis?
Splitting serves as a key defense mechanism where the child soldier separates their moral identity from their soldier identity to survive; the thesis examines how both Agu and Jal navigate this painful psychological dissonance.
What conclusion does the author reach regarding the "unspeakability" of trauma?
The author argues that contrary to some theories suggesting trauma is inherently unspeakable, both novels demonstrate that traumatic events can be represented, albeit through different narrative strategies that range from detailed, unflinching descriptions to symbolic gaps.
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- Anne-Karen Fischer (Autor:in), 2017, In-between Fact and Fiction. Representing the Traumatization of Child Soldiers in Uzodinma Iweala's "Beasts of No Nation" and Emmanuel "Jal's Warchild", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/383702
