A Study On Ephanie Atencio In The Woman Who Owned The Shadows Based On Trauma Theory

The Woman Who Owned the Shadows is the only novel written by Paula GunnAllen, a modern Indian writer, poet, critic and scholar of the United States. TheWoman Who Owned the Shadows has attracted much attention from Americanliterary critics since its publication in1983, but the Chinese critics has paid scantattention to The Woman Who Owned the Shadows and it has no Chinese version upto now. In recent years, the study of American Indian literature shows an ascendanttendency in China, but the study on The Woman Who Owned the Shadows is stillhard to find. This thesis probe into the novel in the light of trauma theory.Ephanie Atencio, the protagonist of The Woman Who Owned the Shadows, wasrejected by the Indian tribe and the mainstream white society because of herhalf-blood Indian identity. The double marginalized social position is the underlyingreason for Ephanie’s trauma. Falling down from apple tree dispowered Ephanie andchanged her. The abandon from Elena made her feel guilty and ashamed of herbudding lesbian tendency and could not confront her own lesbian identity. Afterexperiencing a series of traumatic events, Ephanie was trapped into seriouspsychological crisis and exhibited traumatic symptoms, including nightmares,disconnection and suicidal attempts. Ephanie’s recovery unfolds when she metTeresa and accepted Teresa’s help. With the help of Teresa, Ephanie was able toconnect with her deceased gandmother and the Spider Woman whose storytellinghelped Ephanie understand the true meaning of “jump and fall”. By reconstructingthe traumatic events, Ephanie mourned her past pains and found the meaning of herlife. The thesis, which employs trauma theory coupled with context perusal inanalysis of protagonist’s traumatic etiology, symptoms and working through trauma,probes into and reflects what Paula Gunn Allen wishes to deliver in her novel: thetraditional Indian storytelling plays a controlling role in the healing process ofmodern Indians who are alienated and estranged from their own tradition and people.In order to reclaim the present and the future, the Indians need to realign themselves with the help of traditional Indian stories.Apart from the introduction and conclusion, the whole thesis consists of fourchapters.The introduction draws a brief sketch of Paula Gunn Allen, her writing careerand her novel The Woman Who Owned the Shadows and makes a review of theresearch on the novel from home and abroad, revealing the objective andsignificance of the thesis.Chapter One gives a brief overview of the trauma theory, which consists of thedefinition of trauma, the development of the trauma theory, the application of thetrauma theory as a critical method in the literary criticism, as well as theinterpretation of the novel by the means of the trauma theory.Chapter Two discusses the traumatic events Ephanie undergoes and also tracesthe underlying factors and the direct causes during her growth. The descriminationfrom the the Indian tribe and the mainstream white society is the underlying reasonfor Ephanie’s trauma. Her falling down from an apple tree and Elena’s abandon ofher triggers Ephanie’s trauma directly.Chapter Three concentrates on the traumatic symptoms that Ephanie suffersand the effects on Ephnie, including her frequent nightmares, disconnection fromherself and society and suicidal attempts.Chapter Four analyzes Ephanie’s recovery from trauma. Under the help ofTeresa, Ephanie has finally accepted her own identity as a lesbian. Being able toconnect with her grandmother and Indian goddesses, Ephanie recalls the ancientIndian stories. By storytelling, Ephanie walks out of her trauma and finds herposition in Indian culture, her responsibility as a half-blood Indian woman.The conclusion part makes a summary of the whole thesis. Based on theexploration of the protagonist’s psychological changes, this thesis concludes thattrauma theory can be applied to interpret the protagonist’s psychologicaldevelopment in The Woman Who Owned the Shadows. Storytelling plays a dominantrole in the healing process of Ephanie. Healing from identity crisis through nativeAmerican traditional stories is an important and consistent theme in modern Indianliterature. By using the trauma theory to interpret this novel, the present author hopes it can help to enrich the findings of the research on The Woman Who Owned theShadows and the Indian literature.