Redemption Among Community:Writing Trauma In Paul Auster’s Sunset Park

Paul Auster is a well-known contemporary American novelist,whose writing and discussion of the spiritual crisis of postmodern man has attracted widespread attention in the critical circles.Sunset Park is a novel that depicts the survival of young people in the midst of economic crisis,and this essay focuses on the writing of trauma in it.This paper uses the concepts of “acting-out” and “working-through” of trauma,the former of which,according to Lacapra,is the compulsive repetition of past trauma,and the latter the recognition that the trauma has passed,which cannot heal the wound,but can slow the effects of the former.This thesis opens with a brief introduction of Sunset Park and its author Paul Auster,former literature done on the book,the theoretical framework and thesis structure.The main body of the thesis is constituted with three chapters,following the chronological order during the process of dealing with trauma.The first chapter explores the traumatized main characters and the causes behind their trauma,pointing out the universality of trauma and the necessity of its discussion.Chapter 2 focuses on the symptoms of acting out trauma,among which the most important and worth discussing is the artistic activities.By analyzing Miles’ s photography of deserted things,Ellen’s drawings of nude bodies,Alice’s writing of dissertation and Bing’s rebellious music and other anti-authority political campaign,the thesis argues that artistic activities are all media for the acting-out of their trauma.Aiming at the working through of trauma,Chapter 3 investigates the conditions for a fraternal community,interpersonal retelling of trauma and critical practice and thinking on the traumatic experience,which explores the possibility of working through trauma in community.By comparing individual acting-out and collective working-through,the thesis intends to prove the significance of community to traumatized individuals.In the Conclusion which follows the main body,there is a brief summary of what the thesis has intended to achieve.It also refutes some of the accusations against the book and points out the novelty and other extraordinary quality of the book which makes it worth studying.In the end,it demonstrates the contribution this study of Sunset Park from the perspective of trauma theory hopes to make.