Author(s): Ahmed Dhakaa AL MUBARAK,Hardev KAUR** Rohimmi BIN NOOR***
By critically examining transference phenomena and the connection between traumatic events and memory in Vaddey Ratner’s In the Shadow of the Banyan, this study attempts to elucidate the ways in which the novels present Dori Laub’s (1993) transference phenomena and their counter-intuitive roles in re-externalising Cathy Caruth’s (1992) conceptualization of the “traumatic event,” then grafting that event onto certain situations. In recounting the consequences of the violence and horrors in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979), Banyan portrays the suffering that the characters undergo during and after the war. This article identifies the traumatic events in the novel, examines how the traumatized characters store and retrieve traumas, then examines the literary narrative of the traumatic memory associated with trauma theory as a crucial dimension. The concept of transference phenomena proposed by Laub, supported by work on the concepts of traumatic events and traumatic memory, has been utilized in order to understand the characters’ trauma and memory. The research findings show that the characters studied retrieve the memory of the traumatic events through transference phenomena. As a result, transference phenomena reveal the ability of literature to portray traumatic memory in narrative dilemmas through its engagement with the present
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