Synopses & Reviews
In the wake of psychoanalysis and the birth of therapy, trauma is a powerful concept in twenty-first century culture. Thomas J. Brennan, S.J. finds roots of the "sensibility of trauma" by returning to the work of Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Eliot. By reading these poets of mourning through the framework of trauma, Brennan reflects on our traumatized moment and weighs two potential responses—the fantasy of transcendence and the ethic of trust.
Synopsis
Thomas Brennan finds roots of the 'sensibility of trauma' by returning to the work of Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Eliot. By reading these poets of mourning through the framework of trauma, Brennan reflects on our traumatized moment and weighs two potential responses - the fantasy of transcendence and the ethic of trust.
About the Author
Thomas J. Brennan, S.J. is Assistant Professor of English at Saint Josephs University.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Traumatized Trust * Gazes of Trauma, Spots of Trust: Wordsworths Memorials in
The Prelude * “Wound” in the “Living Soul”: Tennysons
In Memoriam * Castrated Referentiality: Eliots
The Waste Land * Epilogue: “The Tone We Trusted Most”: James Merrills
The Book of Ephraim