ABSTRACT
Psychological trauma refers to an injury inflicted on the mind. It comes with manifestations such as numbness, belatedness of response, hyperarousal, recurrent memories and hallucinations. The themes of loss, betrayal and rejection are common in literature but they are also real life experiences that lead to psychological trauma. Individuals experience loss, betrayal and rejection in different forms which in turn leads to psychological trauma, not just on the pages of the novel, but also in real life.
Elnathan John and Chika Unigwe, authors of Born on a Tuesday and Night Dancer respectively, widely explore these themes and how they lead to trauma. Using different characters and events in their novels, they portray the manifestations of psychological trauma.
The study of psychological trauma leads to the study of defence mechanisms. Defence mechanisms are unconscious drives employed by an individual to fight unpleasant experiences. Begun by Sigmund Freud and expanded by his daughter, Anna Freud, the discussion on defence mechanisms has remained relevant and the list of defence mechanisms has grown to include repression, denial, projection, rationalization and sublimation.
Terrorist groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria unleash trauma on the populace through their activities. Nigerians and indeed people all over the world, have experienced first-hand what a traumatic situation looks like through the global Corona Virus pandemic. At this time, many individuals and societies are still battling the effects of the pandemic and using defence mechanisms to survive. This is the essence of trauma studies – the survival of the traumatised party.
