A Study Of Steer Toward Rock From The Perspective Of Trauma Theory

Chinese American literature began in the nineteenth century and flourished in the twentieth century.Among contemporary Chinese American women authors,Fae Myenne Ng(1956-)is one rising star.Renowned as the remarkable representation of Chinese Americans’ history and pain,Fae Myenne Ng’s Steer Toward Rock has received great responses since its publication in 2008 after her acclaimed debut Bone(1993).Ng has received awards such as the American Book Award(2008)and the Guggenheim Fellowship(2009).This book is highly autobiographical,and all of its main characters can find its archetypal characters in the author’s family life.Ng is concerned with the Chinese American culture and history through elaborating the life of Chinese immigrant in America.By telling the life experiences of her family,Ng shows the Chinese Americans’ experiences that are affected by Chinese Confession Program during the McCarthy era.It is an indispensable step to make a thorough understanding of Chinese American life experiences.By discussing her traumatic writing,readers can get a better understanding of the traumatic experiences of the main characters in the book.Thus "trauma" is a key element in Steer Toward Rock.It greatly impacts their plots,structures and themes.The trauma from the Chinese Exclusion Act,the Chinese Confession Program,and the racism is one of the motifs in Steer Toward Rock.Being relatively new,this book has not been intensively studied.At home and abroad,there are not so many articles about Steer toward Rock so far.On the basis of former studies,this thesis will decode it from the perspective of trauma theory.Based on trauma theory,this thesis explores lives,work,and social experiences of Chinese Americans living in America under the oppression and exclusion of mainstream culture,depicting how Chinese Americans face their historical and racial trauma,and portraying their determination and efforts to recover from the trauma.This paper consists of three chapters with introduction and conclusion.In the introduction part the background of Steer Toward Rock and its author Fae Myenne Ng will be introduced.Then it introduces the previous literary critics of Ng and her works at home and abroad,as well as trauma and trauma theory.The first chapter points out the traumatic themes and traumatic symptoms in this book.This book focuses on the situation of individuals and family to mirror that of society.Fae Myenne Ng reveals the Chinese Confession Program during the McCarthy era which restricts the Chinese Americans from 1956 to 1965.These racism decrees lead to the devastating trauma of the Chinese Americans and their children.Imposed by the Chinese Exclusion Act and Chinese Confession Program,traumas befall individuals,family and society.This chapter will interpret the individual and collective trauma of the whole Chinese Americans during the special historical period.It also explores the traumatic symptoms of the main characters in Steer Toward Rock through a close reading of the text,including Jack’s sense of helplessness and Veda’s confusion.The second chapter tackles the writing skills reflected on the trauma.Through deep decoding,it aims at interpreting Ng’s trauma narrative by discussing the strategies she employs in her writing in three aspects:autobiographical narration,non-linear narrative and multi-voiced narration.The third chapter explains different causes of trauma and the characters,recovery from traumas.It mainly discusses the causes of characters,trauma,such as historical factors,social factors and family environment.Combining with the therapy of trauma,this chapter also narrates the self-treatment and recovery embodied in the book.Through reestablishment of safety,telling the stories and reconnecting with others and reconstructing self-identity,the protagonists recover from trauma.In the process of self-recovery and reconnecting with others,the traumatized will regain the capacity to reestablish their confidence for life,to build a new life and to create a new self-identity,thus encouraging others to get over the trauma.The last part is the conclusion which gives a summary of the thesis.It narrates the thesis’s main findings,implications,limitations,and suggestions for future research.