This chapter demonstrates the urgency of examining trauma and spirituality as depicted in the works of ethnic women writers in America. It defines spirituality as it is used in the book as an awareness that recognizes the interconnectedness of all beings and elements of existence and trauma as a rupture in this spiritual connection, often the result of colonialism, racism, and marginalization. The chapter takes a revisionary look at Cathy Caruth’s work from a woman of color feminist perspective and underscores the necessity of integrating non-Western spiritual beliefs and practices to expand the Eurocentric focus of trauma studies, demonstrating that that the two fields would benefit from a dialogue and that trauma theory is partly already in line with women of color feminism. The revisionary look also reveals a connection between trauma, spirituality, and environment as women of color feminism often connect ecological concerns with spiritual issues, both of which have received only scant attention in trauma studies. Ultimately, the chapter presents a reassessment of trauma as a collective experience that promotes what Gloria Anzaldúa refers to as spiritual activism, spirituality for social change through a consciousness of interconnectedness, emphasizing literature’s transformative potential as a site of spiritual knowledge production and opposition.

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Trauma Narratives as Spiritual Work

  • Marinella Rodi-Risberg

摘要

This chapter demonstrates the urgency of examining trauma and spirituality as depicted in the works of ethnic women writers in America. It defines spirituality as it is used in the book as an awareness that recognizes the interconnectedness of all beings and elements of existence and trauma as a rupture in this spiritual connection, often the result of colonialism, racism, and marginalization. The chapter takes a revisionary look at Cathy Caruth’s work from a woman of color feminist perspective and underscores the necessity of integrating non-Western spiritual beliefs and practices to expand the Eurocentric focus of trauma studies, demonstrating that that the two fields would benefit from a dialogue and that trauma theory is partly already in line with women of color feminism. The revisionary look also reveals a connection between trauma, spirituality, and environment as women of color feminism often connect ecological concerns with spiritual issues, both of which have received only scant attention in trauma studies. Ultimately, the chapter presents a reassessment of trauma as a collective experience that promotes what Gloria Anzaldúa refers to as spiritual activism, spirituality for social change through a consciousness of interconnectedness, emphasizing literature’s transformative potential as a site of spiritual knowledge production and opposition.