Whose uncertainty? Addressing the intersectional reader through the wound of trauma
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Sowon S. Park
Abstract
Few measures are more emblematic of the desire to curb uncertainty than trigger warnings issued in the literary classroom. But do they establish more certainty? A growing body of empirical research is showing that trigger warnings are “functionally inert.” Furthermore, in some studies they have been shown to increase PTSD symptoms. Against this background, this paper takes the rise in demand for trigger warnings as a window into Gen Z reader’s relationship to uncertainty and directs attention to the problem that trigger warnings aim to mitigate but are failing to alleviate – an “epidemic of trauma” in the classroom, as identified by the US National Council of State Education Association (NCSEA). Illuminating trauma as a neglected issue in narrative studies, this paper takes an intersectionally situated perspective to reappraise general propositions about the Reader in order to move towards a trauma-informed approach to teaching narrative in the classroom.
Note
I would like to thank University of California Office of the President for the “Trauma-Informed Pedagogy” grant (2021–2026) and Julie Carlson and Aili Pettersson Peeker for their collaboration on the project.
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© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Living a storied life: An interview with Mike Baynham
- Uncertainty and the limits of narrative: An introduction
- Whose uncertainty? Addressing the intersectional reader through the wound of trauma
- Disconnective futures: Uncertainty, unfathomability, and the collapse of narrative crisis management
- Climate uncertainty, social media certainty: A story-critical approach to climate change storytelling on social media
- Getting out of history: Levitation and paralysis in Sebald and Nabokov
- The nearly missed account of narrative suspense
- Review
- Karen Petroski. Fictionality. London & New York: Routledge, 2023. vii+211 pp. ISBN: 9780367752316 (hardback) / 9780367752293 (paperback) / 9781003161585 (ebook).
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Living a storied life: An interview with Mike Baynham
- Uncertainty and the limits of narrative: An introduction
- Whose uncertainty? Addressing the intersectional reader through the wound of trauma
- Disconnective futures: Uncertainty, unfathomability, and the collapse of narrative crisis management
- Climate uncertainty, social media certainty: A story-critical approach to climate change storytelling on social media
- Getting out of history: Levitation and paralysis in Sebald and Nabokov
- The nearly missed account of narrative suspense
- Review
- Karen Petroski. Fictionality. London & New York: Routledge, 2023. vii+211 pp. ISBN: 9780367752316 (hardback) / 9780367752293 (paperback) / 9781003161585 (ebook).
