Demystifying The Myth Of War

With her three warfare novels coming out in succession,Pat Barker finally tore up the label of “regional,feminist novelist” and became one of the few female war novelists.In the war trilogy,Regeneration turns out to be the most popular one and a film adapted therefrom was released in 1997.This thesis analyses the narrative representation of the war trauma and its purpose and significance,and attempts to reveal the myth of war within the context of the First World War.Based on trauma theories and Genette's narratological methodology,this thesis discusses the theme of trauma in Regeneration.The novel utilizes shifting focalizations and fragmented narrative techniques to represent the traits of unspeakableness and repetition of trauma.The purpose of the narrative representation of trauma is to dissect the deep-seated sociocultural causes of the trauma in the context of the First World War,that is,hegemonic masculinity and alienation,and to demystify the myth of war in manipulating the soldiers.This thesis consists of five parts.Chapter One,an introduction,summarizes the relevant literature,proposes the research questions and significance,and clarifies the theoretical framework.Chapter Two discusses the narrative representation of the war trauma.Through shifting focalizations,jumping scenes and fragmented narrative techniques,the representation of trauma mimics the discontinuity and fragmentation of traumatic memories.Chapter Three analyses the sociocultural causes of the war trauma,that is,hegemonic masculinity and alienation.The discipline imposed on the soldiers by hegemonic masculinity results in the denials of psychological trauma,which makes it difficult to recover.War-induced alienation prevents the soldiers from reestablishing new connections with the community,exacerbating the destructive power of trauma.Chapter Four analyses the demystification of the myth of war.The representation of trauma endows the traumatized soldiers a voice of telling.In the telling,the myth of reason and the myth of heroism conspiring with war are demystified.Chapter Five concludes that the narrative representation of the war trauma is Barker's reflection on and mourning for the First World War from the contemporary perspective.There are no winners in the war,and individuals fall indiscriminately to war.