Tracing Psychological Facts in Amabelle Desir, the Fictional Heroine of Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones

International Journal of Humanities and Social Science

© 2020 by SSRG - IJHSS Journal

Volume 7 Issue 2

Year of Publication : 2020

Authors : Marzieh Keshavarz

10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V7I2P107

How to Cite?

Marzieh Keshavarz, "Tracing Psychological Facts in Amabelle Desir, the Fictional Heroine of Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones," SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 7,  no. 2, pp. 42-45, 2020. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V7I2P107

Abstract:

This study explores Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones in the light of testimony therapy. As a historical novel, The Farming of Bones interweaves the events of the 1937 Parsley Massacre into the life account of its fictional character, Amabelle Desir, not only to revive an act of mass violence in the collective minds but also to stake a claim for the documentary testimony of its narration. Danticat recounts the relationship between the victims and survivors of the Parsley Massacre through Amabelle’s testimony, who has to take the risk of re-experiencing the traumatic events of mass violence imposed on them in Rafael Trujillo’s regime without being a part of those events. Thus, a close reading of Danticat’s The Farming of Bones and exploring the effectiveness of testimony in the real world help us find out how Amabelle’s narration on behalf of the dead brings her a new life as a newborn baby in a fictional world.

Keywords:

trauma, traumatic memories, post-traumatic stress disorder, testimony, testimony therapy

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