Representations of sexual trauma and the potential for recovery: The case of Elif Şafak’s trauma fiction

This project examines the representation of sexual trauma in trauma narratives written by the Turkish author Elif Şafak. She writes trauma novels by using diverse narrative devices to give form to the unpresentable trauma of sexual violence. In particular, her works explore the relationship between violence and silence as well as femininity and masculinity as defined by Turkish society, the possibility of healing from trauma, and the role that society plays in the healing process. Since I focus on those narratives that enact the trauma caused by sexual violence and gender-related issues at the structural and thematic levels, my corpus consists of novels that portray the complex relationship between rape, childhood abuse, honor killings, and sociocultural dynamics in Turkey.