Hello, all. Joy and Lisa have started an excellent discussion about this week's articles already, but I thought I'd jump in with some questions/comments. While none of these articles is about YA lit specifically, I think they address issues and concerns we have been talking about all semester. To what extent does a text about "trauma" lead to the healing of both the author and the reader? To what extent do such texts merely "commodify" or "codify" (in Tal's words) the event for public consumption (or even for subversive political use)? And if they do commodify or turn a trauma into a type of cultural story or myth (like 9-11 or the Holocaust or even the "story" of the rape victim), is this a bad thing? Do you think readers or viewers of texts about trauma can experience "vicarious traumatization" as Kaplan describes it? If so, what does this mean? Is such vicarious experience of traumatic events a good thing? Is it something we should welcome in a literature or film class? Both Kaplan and Tal talk about something they call "bearing witness" to a traumatic event, whatever it may be, and how such witnessing is different from just being a viewer or a reader--it is more than just "identifying" with a character or group of people--it actually urges readers/viewers to _take action_ and initiate some real world change. What do you think of this? I'd say that all teachers want their students to change the world in positive ways, but how do we work through the cynicism, resistance, and even boredom? How do we get them to do more than simply identify with a character who is supposedly "like them"? Do we have to traumatize them through representational texts?
Janet
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This first response is going to be brief only because I do not have a solid answer. I believe that in some cases, texts about trauma are written purely for nosey public eyes (in my opinion, many newspaper articles seem to go the extra mile in creating a scandal rather than bearing the facts). When it comes to certain first-hand accounts, I read them with the sense that the author is gaining some sort of closure or realization from their work.
I read some of these accounts to remind myself of humanity, or to gain a better understanding of an event from multiple viewpoints. I believe it is important to include such texts in the classroom because there could come a day when we are faced with a similar experience. Our lives revolove around learning through ourselves and through others' experiences. When we learn vicariously, many times it can affect our lives for the better.
I faced my own trauma on April 27, 2006 when I was the sole witness to a head-on collision involving a drunk 24-year-old driver of a green Mustang traveling at 84 mph and an innocent 19 year old motorcyclist. The car passed me and hit the motorcycle no more than 30 feet away from where I had skidded off the road, because I knew what was about to happen. What did this experience teach me?
1. Pay attention to the road...always be aware of oncoming traffic.
2. Don't drink and drive.
3. Appreciate life and make others aware of my experience and how 3 seconds can change life.
4. Wear a helmet, no matter what.
Needless to say, I have not been on a motorcycle since, even though I loved to ride. That's just me, though. I learned so much, and more importantly, I wrote about it in detail. Not only did I keep my facts straight in case of future questions, but I got my feelings out. I talked to a counselor at school, and I relived the moment of impact every night in my sleep until July 4. This date was odd to me because it turned out to be my own independence from the nightmare I had been living over in my head for the last couple of months.
Traumas are so wide-spread, and in order to stay real, sometimes these traumas need to be addressed, both in and out of the classroom. I shared this experience with my students and made them aware of the dangers that can come with drinking. Had I not been named on the front page of the next day's paper, I would have probably kept my incident out of the classroom. However, I try to be as honest as I can with my students because they're not far from adulthood either.
Lisa,
Wow...this doesn't relate in the least to the articles, but I needed to share. I experienced this same trauma vicariously through my husband...right before we got married and had Jayden, Alan was riding his motorcycle to work and an old lady didn't see him on 52 and pulled out and hit him. He wasn't wearing a helmet, he was thrown from his bike, landed on the hood of another vehicle traveling on 52 and then in the median of the road. He had a broken jaw and (had his mouth wired shut for 2 months,) a broken wrist and dislocated his knee. However, he was lucky to be alive. His bike was totaled and he hasn't rode one since. I could never again and the thought of my boys ever owning a bike scares me to death. I could never see how someone experiencing that trauma could pick it up again. Anyhow, just another little link we may have in common.
Stac
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