Trauma Writing In Vonnegut's Mother Night

Kurt Vonnegut is widely regarded as the “father of modern American science fiction”,and British writer Graham Green praised him as “one of America's best contemporary authors.” He is one of the most influential postmodern novel writers in the United States and one of the representatives of the American “black humor” literature.Only those who goes through the pain may master the art of humor.It is precisely because of his special experience that he survived World War II and his lifelong depression caused by the war that made him dedicated to trauma writing.The focus of this study is to explore the traumatic themes in the work,the traumatic narrative structure and the artistic techniques,reflecting Vonnegut's contemplation on the war and the concern for the fate of human beings,full of tragic emotions.Mother Night is the third novel by the American writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr.,published in 1961.This novel is also the author's first creation from the perspective of the first person,based on his personal real experiences,which not only makes the role of modeling subtler,but also more intense expression of the author's deep reflection on the war,revealing a deep reflection on relations between the individual and history,society and care about the fate of humankind.Except the introduction and conclusion,the main body is divided into three chapters.The introduction part mainly introduces the author and his Mother Night,the theoretical framework of the paper's analysis,as well as the domestic and foreign literature review of Mother Night,and summarizes the research significance of the thesis.The first chapter analyzes the traumatic themes in the work,namely,the individual trauma from the family and the marriage and love,the collective trauma from the world war and ethnic discrimination,and the intergenerational trauma that all unavoidable kinds of individual and collective trauma.Trauma brings individual suffering,causes the dissociation of individual interpersonal relationships,and causes individuals to question their existence significance.Trauma also gives the nation a large collective psychological disorder,collective confusion and makes them indiscriminate and difficult to get rid of the collective traumatic memory.The second chapter seeks to discuss the anti-traditional traumatic narrative structures which the completion of the analysis of the trauma theme depends on.The recurrent transformation of narrative time and space,the transformation of narrative perspectives and language patterns,and the non-linear and multi-perspective dual narrative structure illustrate the repeated and delayed appearance of trauma and its insurmountable features.The third chapter probes the adoption of various artistic expression techniques highlighting the traumatic themes.Black humor is the resistance to mediocrity of postwar human consciousness.The use of metaphor is a reflection of the unspeakable nature of trauma after the war,evoking the awareness of human beings to examine of relationships between history and individuality.Metafiction by nature,whose fictionality exposes to readers from the very beginning,allows readers to clearly understand the virtual reality surrounded by the hypocrisy,and to re-find the meaning of individual existence in the post-traumatic and absurd world.After research,it can be concluded that Mother Night embodies individual trauma,collective trauma,and more dreadfully the intergenerational trauma.Traumatic experiences brought about by the war for both the United States and Germany are indistinctive.The devastating and deadly traumatic blows that ethnic discrimination and massacres bring to Jews,are the trauma that the author exposes in the novel as the theme.The non-traditional narrative structure and artistic expression used to complete the writing of trauma is a traumatic expression and a way of recovery from trauma,awakening the consciousness and courage that individuals should face history,and evoking human beings to examine the meaning and self-destiny of individual existence.It also expressed a strong anti-war ideology and appeal for peace.