Like Stripes on a Chokecherry Tree : Representations of Trauma and Consolidation of History in Neo-slave Narratives

Master´s thesis in English (EN500) Literature has long been utilised to provide commentary on social and political injustices, give voice to discriminated peoples, and provide context in relation to social and cultural history. The aim of this thesis was to analyse the representations of trauma and slavery in the novels Kindred by Octavia E. Butler and Beloved by Toni Morrison in order to determine to what extent these novels aid the consolidation of the trauma and history of slavery with contemporary understanding. This was achieved using the historical context of slavery alongside a traumatheoretical framework including, but not limited to, primary and secondary trauma, cultural trauma, p…