On The Art Of Trauma Writing In Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut, a famous representative of the American Post-modern literature, is well-known as "black humorist" and "postmodernist". With the publication of Slaughterhouse-Five in 1969, Kurt Vonnegut rose to fame and instantly attracted critics and people's great attention. He deconstructs the traditional novel writing mode and brings chaos to the traditional novel writing order. Slaughterhouse-Five is regarded by some critics as the milestone in American Postmodernism.Critics and scholars at home and abroad have contributed a lot in Vonnegut studies, and his most famous novel Slaughterhouse-Five, with its unique writing techniques and rich themes, appeals to critics and readers the most. But little attention has been on Vonnegut's overlapping image from both his extraordinarily miserable experiences and his powerful fabricating ability. Vonnegut artistically and effectively weaves his traumatic memory and history facts into his fictional tale invention.Based upon the theory of Trauma, this paper makes a systematic study of the technique "Trauma Writing" largely employed by Kurt Vonnegut in the novel, including the arrangement of the plot, characterization and language style to strengthen the novel's anti-war theme—the historical and psychological trauma brought by the war, the post-war broken American dream and loss of social value.The unconventional arrangement of plots is the representative feature of Trauma Writing in Slaughterhouse-Five. Being disordered and scattered are the main characteristics of its plots, which is often manifested as non-linear narrative, anti-climax as well as the combination of three worlds, without a unified organization. The narration seems to be incomplete and the plot bears no logic connections. All these characteristics of the plots well convey deep-rooted war trauma.The effect of Trauma Writing is also achieved in the characterization of the novel. In Slaughterhouse-Five, not a single conventionally heroic or even Christian character can be found. Most of the characters, including the protagonist Billy Pilgrim and the peculiar character Kurt Vonnegut as the author and narrator show the characteristic of being real or deformed. The technique of Trauma Writing in characterization skillfully reveals the bombing of Dresden, the broken American dream and loss of social value, the historical and social trauma.Furthermore, the language style of the novel also reflects the art of Trauma Writing. The novel is rich in various rhetorical devices, such as parody, repetition and metaphor. The characteristic of being repetitive skillfully embodies the fatalism and eagerness for tranquility. Numerous metaphors and parodies vividly expose the atrocity of the war. All these perfectly embody the war trauma brought by World WarⅡ.Through the above discussions, the paper comes to the conclusion that in the arrangement of plot, characterization or rhetoric, the technique of Trauma Writing is skillfully used and effectively strengthens the novel's anti-war theme—the historical and psychological trauma brought by the war, the post-war broken American dream and loss of social value.