Haunted Forms: Intermediality, Trauma, and Literary Memory

Author

Gabriella GraceffoFollow

Year of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

English (Literature)

Department or School/College

English

Committee Chair

Katie Kane

Commitee Members

Brian Blanchfield, Bryan Cochran

Keywords

intermediality, trauma, PTSD, affordance theory, embodiment

Publisher

University of Montana

Subject Categories

Literature in English, North America

Abstract

This thesis considers contemporary literature’s use of intermediality as a method to heighten the affective embodiment of PTSD symptoms represented in text. Using the meaning-making structures of photography and film, the analysis examines how the writing of Georges Bataille, Annie Ernaux, Michael Ondaatje, and Bhanu Kapil use formal implicit reference—the type of intermediality in which the characteristics and semiotics of one medium are translated to another without direct reproduction—to represent both traumatic experiences themselves and the symptom domains of PTSD. Caroline Levine’s work on affordance theory from Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network provides a theoretical foundation as to how the literary characteristics of syntax, temporal structure, semiotic chains, and perspective can modulate affective and formal characteristics afforded by film and photography. Research from Dr. E. B. Foa, a seminal figure in psychology focused on treating the trauma of rape, and Dr. Anke Ehlers, a German psychologist specializing in contemporary PTSD treatments and paradigms, offers further support for the readings of these literary texts regarding simultaneity, memory, and fragmented recall. Intermedial texts are incredibly important to the study of contemporary literature because of the increased prevalence of hybrid forms in the digital age and the publication of trauma narratives in the twenty-first century. Ultimately, these texts offer a more authentic representation of trauma through embodiment of PTSD symptoms than traditional literary storytelling. By creating discomforting, atypical forms that express traumatic content, they destabilize the reader and the history of literature, expressing the impact of trauma on the mind represented in narration and literary structure.

Recommended Citation

Graceffo, Gabriella, "Haunted Forms: Intermediality, Trauma, and Literary Memory" (2023). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12242.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12242