Nada Jarrar’s A Good Land : A Multilateral Trauma

Abstract

Trauma is not restricted to a particular place or a particular time. War memories intrude all nations and traumatize them. Following the crisis of the civil war in Lebanon, the invasion upon Palestine, the misery of Holocaust, and the wretchedness of World War II, many literary texts tackle them to show the traumatic experience of the individual. A Good Land by Nada Jarrar describes different traumatized nations and shows how the effect of trauma is one upon many individuals from different backgrounds. This research sets out to prove that the three different characters in the novel suffer from trauma. Kamal represents the Palestinian traumatic experience, Laila represents the Lebanese traumatic experience, and Margo represents the Jewish traumatic experience. This study focuses on the basic concepts of trauma. It shows how trauma affects identity. In addition, it displays the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and examines how different characters present different symptoms.The research discusses the novel’s thematic representation of trauma. It focuses on trauma theory specifically the idea of ‘’acting out’’ that is explained by Dominick LaCapra and Cathy Caruth. Moreover, the study shows the impact of trauma on identity through using the work of Dolores Herrero and Sonia Baelo-Allué. Eventually, this research sets out to prove the possibility of representing trauma in A Good Land by Nada Jarrar