Inscribed in Genes: A Study of Transgenerational, Postcolonial Trauma
Keywords:
Genetics, Neuroscience, Transgenerational Trauma, Postcolonial Trauma, Trauma StudiesAbstract
This paper explores whether insights from genetics and neuroscience will help unravel the nature of transgenerational trauma as articulated in the works of Jonathan Saffran Foer and Susan Abulhawa, two twenty first century American authors tracing their lineage back to Ukraine and Palestine respectively. Besides insights from genetics and neurosciences, the paper makes use of perspectives afforded by trauma studies and postcolonial theory to explore the operation and mechanism of transgenerational trauma.
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