Annotation

My SCE project will look at how colonial violence spans generations through hereditary trauma in three texts, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Purple Hibiscus, Mai Der Vang’s book of poems Afterland, and lê thi diem thúy’s novel The Gangster We are All Looking For. The motif of family in these texts is used to explain transgenerational trauma responses to past and current psychological effects of colonization and war. I will be looking at critical perspectives of postcolonial theory, family trauma, and literary criticism in order to show my audience the importance of heritage and transgenerational narratives in postcolonial literature.

Abubakar, Sadiya. “Traumatic Experiences of Nigerian Women: An Archetypal Representation in Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus.” IRA-International Journal of Management & Social Sciences (ISSN 2455-2267) [Online], 4.3 (2016): 602-611. Web. 24 Oct. 2019

Abubakar’s article, “Traumatic Experiences of Nigerian Women: An Archetypal Representation in Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus”, provides an insight into how literature talks about trauma, and how trauma shapes generations. Abubakar talks about women’s oppression and trauma due to sexual assault, abuse, and poverty in Nigeria. She relates the patriarchal oppression of women to Purple Hibiscus, which she calls “an epitome of Nigerian women’s difficulties and their traumatic experiences” (Abubakar 603). Abubakar’s article discusses trauma theory in relation to literature and delves into the psychology of several of Adichie’s characters. Abubakar’s argument is that multiple traumas, from domestic violence to the trauma of oppression, affect and shape the Adichie’s characters and their familial relationships. These character relationships reflect to the trauma postcolonial Nigerians face. Abubakar’s main project is to show through literary analysis the necessity of trauma centers in Nigeria, and that literature is “unveiling such issues of trauma and letting it to penetratingly reach out to the world through narration” (610). This text is important to my SCE because it provides an overview of trauma and how it affects Nigerian people, and specifically Purple Hibiscus.  Abubakar’s article focuses specifically on women, but I believe that this is not a limitation because of women’s role in affecting the culture of both families and generations. My argument that trauma is hereditary, and that Purple Hibiscus shows an example of this psychological phenomenon, is supported by Abubakar’s examples of women’s trauma in postcolonial Nigeria and her analysis of Adichie’s writing.  I will use Abubakar’s article to support my argument that the characters in Purple Hibiscus inherit the postcolonial trauma of their parents and ancestors through the way this trauma shapes their family dynamic.