Trauma and Cultural Memory in Louise Erdrich's The Round House

在《圓屋》當中，路易絲•厄德里奇以一個奧吉布瓦族女人杰拉丁•考茨的強暴案做為小說的開場。為了治療杰拉丁的創傷，她的兒子喬開始尋找正義，但卻發現他所信賴的聯邦法竟然無法解決問題。此外，喬也了解到看似只是偶發的單一事件，事實上卻和奧吉布瓦族的歷史創傷有關。 本文主要分為兩個章節以及導論和結論。導論簡介文獻回顧、本文的主要論點和本文架構。第一章要探討的是《圓屋》的萬物有靈論、口傳故事及歷史創傷。藉由萬物有靈論及說故事理論的輔助下，我將檢視幕蓀利用神話故事，揭露了萬物有靈論對奧布吉瓦族的重要性，同時也顯現出圓屋的神聖性。不僅如此，幕蓀的神話故事中也揭露出那段奧布吉瓦族被美國政府壓迫的歷史。此外，透過瑪麗亞•耶羅•霍而斯•伯瑞絲•哈特的歷史創傷理論，我發現杰拉丁的強暴案顯露出奧布吉瓦族的歷史創傷對後代的影響。在第二章，我將利用凱西•卡路絲的創傷理論及瓦爾特•班雅明的記憶理論去剖析杰拉丁的強暴案和其他角色之間複雜的關係。喬對角色創傷經驗的敘述，讓我了解創傷不僅是個人的，也是集體的。也就是說，厄德里奇之所以安排杰拉丁的強暴案是為了與其他角色的創傷經驗彼此串聯起來。這也讓我發現到奧布吉瓦族的人民不僅遭受到不同類型的暴力，他們的創傷經歷也深深影響喬。此外，藉由朵力•勞伯的見證理論，也顯現出喬具有見證人及倖存者的雙重身分。因此在敘述杰拉丁強暴案的同時，喬也在敘述自己受到的創傷及殺害強暴犯林登拉克的愧疚感。但是，喬了解殺人並無法解決問題，所以他最後成為了一個律師。因此，《圓屋》可以被認為是喬的成長故事。結論為本文的最後一個部分，總結本文的研究，並揭露出藉由厄德里奇的創傷書寫，讓奧布吉瓦族的人民得以為自己發聲並找出解決歷史創傷的管道。In The Round House, Louise Erdrich arranges the rape of an Objiwe woman Geraldine Coutts as the beginning of the novel. In order to heal Geraldine's trauma, her son Joe starts to search for justice. However, he finds out that the Federal Law he trusts cannot deal with the problem of the rapist. At the same time, he realizes that Geraldine's rape is unusual. As a matter of fact, it is related to Objiwe historical trauma. The thesis is divided into two chapters along with an introduction and a conclusion. The introduction simply introduces the literature review, the main argument, and the structure of the thesis. Chapter One involves three topics: animism, oral storytelling and historical trauma. First of all, interpreted through Alfred Irving Hallowell's animism theory and Walter Benjamin's storytelling theory, I will point out that Mooshum's myth not only reveals the importance of animism but also explains the sanctity of the Round House. Also, Mooshum's myth implies Objiwe people's oppressed history. With the help of Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart's historical trauma theory, I will reveal that Geraldine' rape is related to Objiwe historical trauma. In this regard, Geraldine is a victim of Objiwe historical trauma. Chapter Two focuses on the complicated relationship between Geraldine's rape and other characters' traumatic experiences by means of Cathy Caruth's trauma theory and Walter Benjamin's memory theory. Joe's narration reveals that characters' traumatic experiences are not only individual but also collective. This is to say, Erdrich arranges Geraldine's rape in order to bring out other characters' traumas. As a result, I find out that Objiwe people suffer from different kinds of violence. Furthermore, based on Dori Laub's witness theory, I will show that Joe has double identity. He is both listener and survivor. Joe narrates not only Geraldine's rape but also his own trauma and guilty feeling of killing Linden. After realizing that killing is not the best choice to deal with any problem, he becomes a lawyer. Therefore, The Round House is considered a Bildungsroman. The conclusion combines all these discussions to conclude this research and to reveal that Erdrich's traumatic writing not only voices for Objiwe people but also offers them a way to cope with their historical trauma.Introduction 1 I. The Biography of Louise Erdrich 1 II. Literature Review and Erdrich's Fiction 2 III. Main Theories 8 IV. Storylines of The Round House 10 V. Chapter Summaries 13 Chapter One－Objiwe Cultural Memory and Trauma 15 I. Objiwe Myth: the Round House and Animism 15 II. Storytelling: the Round House and Mooshum 23 III. Trauma: the Round House, the Rape of Geraldine, Historical Trauma 27 Chapter Two－Trauma: Memory & Collective Trauma 35 I. Cultural and Historical Trauma 36 II. Joe's Narration and His Involuntary Memory 42 III. Traumatic Writing and Joe's Third Person Perspective 48 IV. Becoming a Man: Joe's Growth and Injustice 52 Conclusion 61 Works Cited 7