Trauma and Creative Writing in the Light of Psychoanalytical Criticism

Abstract

With the rise of psychoanalytic criticism, the relationship between the author and his work has become one of the major fields of research. This article demonstrates the interplay between the author’s trauma and his artistic sensibility. Far from being an autotelic artifact, the literary text provides a kind of therapy, which brings solace to a writer, who is psychically wretched. The traumatic times and the shattering and baffling experiences in the author’s life sometimes have an impact on his psychological equilibrium. Hence, the author vents his pent-up feelings to experience a sense of catharsis. The paper relies on the recent psychoanalytical trends to evince the relationship between the author’s trauma and his literary work. Key words: trauma, creative writing, psychoanalytical criticism, catharsis.