Trauma in Arthurian Literature
Sponsoring Organization(s)
International Arthurian Society, North American Branch (IAS/NAB)
Organizer Name
Dana M. Roders
Organizer Affiliation
Purdue Univ.
Presider Name
Dana M. Roders
Paper Title 1
"In Tho Dayes": Trauma, Malory's Readers, and the Case of Gawain's Grief
Presenter 1 Name
Stephen Atkinson
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Park Univ.
Paper Title 2
Combat Stress, Proportionality, and Malory's Voices of Reason
Presenter 2 Name
Karen Cherewatuk
Presenter 2 Affiliation
St. Olaf College
Start Date
14-5-2015 3:30 PM
Session Location
Bernhard 159
Description
In her extensive work on trauma, Cathy Caruth has argued for a link between trauma and literature, suggesting that the former is represented "in a language that is always somehow literary: a language that defies, even as it claims, our understanding.” Recent work by Patricia Clare Ingham and David Coley has explored traumatic representation in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and Cleanness, respectively, suggesting that there is, in fact, a need for in-depth study of trauma in the literature of the Middle Ages. Indeed, the Arthurian corpus teems with trauma in manifold forms, from Lancelot's physical and mental anguish in the Grail quest to the violent wounds inflicted on Arthur and his knights in battle to the painful severance of nationhood resulting from Arthur's inability to produce an heir. Accordingly, this panel invites an exploration of trauma in all its forms in Arthurian literature, including but not limited to physical and mental suffering; violence, wounds, and the traumatized body; trauma and victimization; fragmented national identity; and traumatized manuscripts.
Dana M. Roders
Trauma in Arthurian Literature
Bernhard 159
In her extensive work on trauma, Cathy Caruth has argued for a link between trauma and literature, suggesting that the former is represented "in a language that is always somehow literary: a language that defies, even as it claims, our understanding.” Recent work by Patricia Clare Ingham and David Coley has explored traumatic representation in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and Cleanness, respectively, suggesting that there is, in fact, a need for in-depth study of trauma in the literature of the Middle Ages. Indeed, the Arthurian corpus teems with trauma in manifold forms, from Lancelot's physical and mental anguish in the Grail quest to the violent wounds inflicted on Arthur and his knights in battle to the painful severance of nationhood resulting from Arthur's inability to produce an heir. Accordingly, this panel invites an exploration of trauma in all its forms in Arthurian literature, including but not limited to physical and mental suffering; violence, wounds, and the traumatized body; trauma and victimization; fragmented national identity; and traumatized manuscripts.
Dana M. Roders