Trauma studies: The framework of trauma as a performative phenomenon in The Fly

Abstract

From Freud’s concept of hysteria to the now-blooming field of trauma studies, the subject of psychological complexity has always been a distinctive topic for research. Various literary works illustrate subjects like anxiety, trauma, disorder, cognitive complexity, mental suffering, etc. This paper specifically focuses on the trauma theory and how the protagonist in the short story The Fly by Katherine Mansfield undergoes the traumatic event by centralizing the fact that trauma is inescapable and out of time and space, emphasizing the meticulous symbolism and narrative techniques displayed by the writer in the story. Because of this psychological disruption, identity and the self are fragmented, and external affairs and surroundings affect the world within, which destroys the normal psychological status, realm, and functioning of an individual, resulting in a loss of both psychological and emotional agencies. The study also examines the very psychological nexus between trauma, traumatic experiences, and their portrayal in the fiction with the help of the character (protagonist) from the short story that has been selected for the present study. The short story has a direct reference to the post-war trauma and how the families of the victims deliberately recreate the site of trauma to experience the pain and agony, which, in the Freudian reference, is called compulsive repetition of the suppressed emotions.