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Title Exploring Childhood Trauma in Alex Michaelides’s The Silent Patient and the Maidens: A Cognitive Poetics Analysis

Author(s) Aneela Anjum

Abstract This study explores childhood trauma, especially perpetrator trauma, and its delineation in the novels The Silent Patient and The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. This research focuses on the cognitive poetic analysis of the characters from the selected novels offering a multidimensional perspective on how readers process and engage with traumatic texts. In order to make sense of the trauma narratives, this research focuses on cognitive poetics strategies such as foregrounding, image schema and parabolic projection to delve into emotional, and aesthetic dimensions of trauma representation in literature which ultimately helps in understanding the pertinent reasons that turn childhood trauma into perpetrators’ trauma. This study undertakes the psychoanalytical perspectives of Cathy Caruth and Leonard Shengold to explicate that trauma due to social disruption results in the ‘Soul Murder’ of the child that leads to the fragmentation of the soul and a loss of essential vitality and authenticity. The selected novels feature a diverse cast of characters from various backgrounds, each narrating the story, with certain events recounted from multiple viewpoints. This narrative strategy demands persistent cognitive engagement from readers as they grapple with the intricate and perplexing details emerging from the fictional world of the novel. Utilizing a cognitive framework in the analysis of the selected texts yields insights into the behavioral patterns of the characters experiencing trauma and the profound effects of abuse on their cognitive processes, consciousness, and sense of identity. Furthermore, this method provides a perspective on how the narrative actively involves readers cognitively, facilitating their understanding of the connection between personal trauma and its transformation into perpetrator trauma.

Type Thesis/Dissertation MS

Faculty Languages

Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2024-06-27

Subject English Literature

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