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4 - Bearing Witness

Trauma in Contemporary Slave Narratives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2022

Andrea Nicholson
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
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Summary

Chapter 4 analyzes the psychological and physical effects of slavery. Here, it is argued that we continue to place trauma within existing psychological frameworks but fail to understand the effect of ownership and objectification, which presents unique challenges to survivors of slavery and has ramifications for the support structures that are put in place. The chapter argues that the need to bear witness, on both the part of the listener and the narrator, is crucial to meaningful growth in the light of current ill-suited support and allows an acknowledgment of the truth of survivors’ lives. This chapter in particular draws on autobiographies and my own interviews with survivors, mapping their journeys and experiences to the psychological literature on trauma, and exploring the need to bear witness as a powerful means of growth

Type
Chapter
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Bearing Witness
Contemporary Slave Narratives and the Global Antislavery Movement
, pp. 95 - 127
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Bearing Witness
  • Andrea Nicholson, University of Nottingham
  • Book: Bearing Witness
  • Online publication: 22 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039741.006
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  • Bearing Witness
  • Andrea Nicholson, University of Nottingham
  • Book: Bearing Witness
  • Online publication: 22 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039741.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Bearing Witness
  • Andrea Nicholson, University of Nottingham
  • Book: Bearing Witness
  • Online publication: 22 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039741.006
Available formats
×