Trauma, Transcendence, and Trust

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.

Auteur
THOMAS J. BRENNAN Assistant Professor of English at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, USA.

Texte du rabat

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.

Contenu
Introduction: Traumatized Trust Gazes of Trauma, Spots of Trust: Wordsworth's Memorials in The Prelude 'Wound' in the 'Living Soul': Tennyson's In Memoriam Castrated Referentiality: Eliot's The Waste Land Epilogue: 'The Tone We Trusted Most': James Merrill's The Book of Ephraim