Introduction and Scope

In recent years, trauma has become a national obsession. War, terrorism, and natural disaster has brought pain and suffering into the media limelight, fueling cultural expressions that engage in public outpourings of hyper-emotionality. This trend is lending a certain vogue to the post-Lacanian crowd and effectively dusting off psychoanalytic criticism, one of the oldest forms of literary critique that is still in use. Thus we see numerous graduate/undergraduate courses and MLA panel talks on topics such as: trauma and memory, collective trauma and national identity, post-colonial trauma (slave narratives), rape (gender studies/body folklore), holocaust literature, etc. Ultimately, trauma is a very interdisciplinary and engaging topic that won't be losing interest any time soon.

This pathfinder is meant for graduate students and other scholars who wish to contribute to the field of trauma theory and criticism and/or develop or enhance an undergraduate syllabus on this topic. The amount of literature containing traumatic plots and motifs is immense and even hard to define at times. Consequently, I have had to be a little creative in bringing together some seemingly disparate sources.

Locating Primary Documents

Electronic Resources:

• IUCAT:

  Fictional and non-fictional narratives can be found simply by searching IUCAT (note that this is also a good way to find critical monographs). Conduct a subject search using any of the following subject headings:
  --Psychic trauma in literature
  --Disasters in literature
  --War stories
  --Rape victims--Fiction

  Or, combine these subject headings with "AND (literature OR narrative* OR story OR stories)":
  --Victims of crimes
  --Sexual abuse victims
  --Post-traumatic stress disorder
  --Traumatism

• Magill on Literature Plus. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1949--. Accessible via EBSCO
  This database contains book reviews, essays, plot synopses and biographies culled from over 150 volumes of reference works such as Masterplots, Magill's Guide to Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature, Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, Identities and Issues in Literature. It is updated quarterly and includes a glossary of terms. A recent keyword search for "trauma OR Rape OR war OR disaster OR post-traumatic stress" produced over 5,500 hits.

• Literature Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 1900--. Accessible via Gale Group
  Contains plot summaries, full-text journal articles, critical essays, links to websites, author biographies and portraits, and an encyclopedia of literary terms. In-depth focus on the most-studied 2,500 authors. 3,000-4,000 authors are added each year.
  --To use: search in the "authors by type": You can then search in the scroll down menus by genre ("holocaust literature") or theme ("abandonment," "terrorism,""postwar society,""slave narratives," "rape," etc.) or by typing in a keyword, all of which can be further limited by literary time period or nationality.

• Kremer, S. Lillian (ed). Holocaust Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. New York: Routledge, 2003. REF PN56.H55 H66 2003
  Consisting of two large volumes, this resource contains a plethora of information on Holocaust writing and authors. Over 300 poets, novelists, memoirists, dramatists, and religious and secular philosophers are listed alphabetically. The introduction gives a sweeping overview, divided by nationality and concluding in a huge bibliography of works cited. There is a map of German occupied Europe that marks the location of concentration camps. The entries are bio-critical and include bibliographies of primary and secondary sources, interviews with the authors, and archival documents. Eight different appendices list the authors by genre, language, birthplace, literary themes, and provide information on Jewish ghettos, concentration camps, and historical events and figures. A glossary of terms and a subject index complete this information packed and incredibly useful resource.

• Newman, John, and David A. Willson. Vietnam War Literature: An Annotated Bibliography of Imaginative Works About Americans Fighting in Vietnam. 3rd ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1996. Stacks Z1227 .N49 1996
  This is an annotated listing of Vietnam War stories that includes novels, short stories, drama, poetry, and miscellaneous items such as sketchbooks, folk songs, and comic books. The works are sorted alphabetically by author and grouped into genre and year of publication. The range of materials is vast--from Pulitzer Prize winning novels to what the editors refer to as "pornographic, ungrammatical"(19) writings. There is an author and title index but, unfortunately, no subject index.

• Menendez, Albert J. Civil War Novels: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1986. Stacks Z1231.F4 M46 1986
  Printed in a simple, courier font, this bibliography is an unembellished listing of fictional novels and memoirs concerning the American Civil War that were written from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s. Covers both adult and juvenile titles. The entries are arranged alphabetically by author and some are very briefly annotated with synopses. Includes a title index and subject index (mostly regions and battles). Small and dated, but useful for finding primary texts.

• Ouditt, Sharon. Women Writers of the First World War: An Annotated Bibliography. London; New York: Routledge, 2000. REF Z2014.W37 O93 2000
  This bibliography was compiled under the assumption that the women who were left at home while their husbands and lovers fought in World War I experienced trauma that was an important component of the emotional effects of the war. Of course, some of the novels, diaries, and letters that are listed here were written by women who actually experienced the battlefield (usually as nurses). Part I indexes primary sources which includes the work of both literary (Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield) and popular (Ruby Ayres, Berta Ruck) authors. Part II is a listing of secondary sources. There is an index of names, titles, and subjects in the back.

• Crisis in Darfur: Archive of Stories and Case Studies. Oxfam International.

• Stories from Iraq: Wage Peace Campaign. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

• Hurricane Digital Memory Bank. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University

• TsunamiStories.net

• The 9/11 Digital Archive. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, American Social History Project, City University of New York

Trauma Theory: Some Seminal Texts*

• Caruth, Cathy
  --Trauma: Explorations in Memory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,1995. Stacks BF175.5.P75 T73 1995
  --Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. Stacks PN771 .C338 1996
  Cathy Caruth, Professor and Director of the Comparitive Literature Program at Emory University, is one of the leading trauma theorists. Trauma is an anthology edited by Caruth, containing essays from Shoshana Felman, Dori Laub, Harold Bloom, Georges Baitaille, and others. Each essay provides detailed theoretical critique of a wide variety of interdisciplinary subjects ranging from the poetry of Baudelaire to the AIDS crisis. Unclaimed Experience is Caruth's monograph which explores the relationship between trauma, history, and understanding, and, in doing so, re-enacts the very trauma that it describes.

• Tal, Kali. Worlds of Hurt: Reading the Literatures of Trauma. Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture; 95. Cambridge England; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Stacks PS228.P72 T32 1996
  This is the published book version of Kali Tal's PhD thesis. Focusing on literature from survivors of the Holocaust, the Vietnam War, and sexual abuse victims, Tal examines the need of survivors of these traumas to relate their stories to the collective cultural memory of the community at large. A bit more accessible than Caruth's work.

• Groden, Michael, Martin Kreiswirth, and Imre Szeman. The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism. 2nd ed. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. PN81 .J554 2005--Stacks and reference room
  Offers a very broad introduction to literary theory for advanced students and other scholars, concentrating on the twentieth century. The writing is rather dense but focuses only on the most well-established theorists. Each entry contains cross-references in small caps, a short bibliography, and "see also" references. Includes a name and subject index. The sections that are most relevant are "Psychoanalytic Theory and Criticism," "Lacan," and "Deconstruction: The 1980's and After," which gives a short summary of Unclaimed Experience.

• Hawthorn, Jeremy. A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory. 4th ed. London New York: Arnold; Oxford University Press, 2000. Stacks and REF PN44.5 .H37 2000. This theory dictionary offers further help with decoding complex terms such as meconnaissance and Gestalt. The terms are arranged alphabetically and the entries (which range from small paragraphs to multiple pages) include cross references and diagrams where needed. There is a bibliography of works quoted in the back and an introduction that provides a listing of terms grouped by theoretical "school."

Recent Literary Criticism

• MLA Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association, 1963--. Via Ebsco
  The premier electronic database for critical essays on literature, language, and folklore, indexing over 3,000 journals plus dissertations, chapters in books, and proceedings. Includes direct links to IUCAT. Quarterly updates.

• Dissertation Thesis Abstracts. Ann Arbor, MI: Proquest/UMI, 1861--. Via ProQuest/UMI
  An extensive database for citations and abstracts of US doctoral and masters' theses. Since interest in trauma narratives is a fairly new trend, a lot of critical work can be found in doctoral and master's thesis from the last eight years. A recent search for "trauma AND literature" produced over 200 results. Dissertations are from many disciplines (humanities, social and hard sciences) and may be requested via interlibrary loan. Irregular updates.

Psychology of Trauma

• Kazdin, Alan E. Encyclopedia of Psychology. Washington, D.C. Oxford; New York: American Psychological Association ; Oxford University Press, 2000. REF--BF31 .E52 2000
  As the standard reference for all areas in the field of psychology, this eight volume encyclopedia covers a wide range of topics from abortion and cognition to the psychology of urban communities and veterans. The entries are arranged alphabetically and each contains a short bibliography and "see also" references. There is no section on "trauma" in general but there are entries devoted to "traumatic memory" and "post-traumatic stress disorder" as well as relevant information under "repression," "combat," and "rape." There is a useful index in the final volume as well as a hierarchical listing of the content that illuminates the methodological relationship between concepts.

• Psych Info. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1887--. Via CSA
  Indexes essays from more than 1,300 international journals as well as dissertations. Provides full text articles from over 250 journals in psychology and related disciplines (education, medicine, anthropology, cognitive science, etc.). Specify these specific journals in the Journal Name (JN) search field for especially relevant articles: Trauma, Trauma Violence and Abuse, and Traumatology. Updated Quarterly.

A note on works consulted/methodology:

Most of my references to literary theory can be attributed to the syllabus and class lectures from Patricia Ingham's Fall 2005 course "Romancing Troy: Trauma, Sacrifice, and History in Medieval English Literature" at Indiana University. Much of the cultural analysis within and inspiration for this pathfinder springs from creative ruminations that partially spawned from participation in this course as well as attendance at Aranye Fradenburg's lecture in November 2005 at IU entitled "(Dis)continuities."

The rest of my sources were found by conducting Boolean searches via IUCAT and Google.com.