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The Broken Spirits of River Spirit: A Psychoanalytical Exploration of the Traumas of Enslavement in Leila Aboulela’s Novel
Albuainain, Lulwa
Albuainain, Lulwa
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This thesis attempts to analyze the traumatic events and behavioral manifestations of trauma involving select enslaved characters from Leila Aboulela’s historical fictional novel River Spirit (2023), set in late 19th century Sudan in the midst of the Mahdist revolutionary war. In bringing the novel’s enslaved characters’ traumatic experiences to light, this research relies on concepts from the psychoanalytical trauma theory models of Sigmund Freud and Cathy Caruth, as well as Judith Herman’s trauma model outlining the three cardinal symptoms of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): hyperarousal, intrusion, and constriction. This research forms an understanding of the aforementioned concepts within the context of Aboulela’s novel, findings associations with PTSD and its symptoms within the dissociated and disturbed mental states of Akuany-Zamzam, Hibra, the Al-Ubayyid governor’s slaves, and the pregnant woman of the Khartoum slave caravan, all of whom had endured slavery and its cruelties. In exploring the traumatized psyches of the characters, this research also delves into Akuany-Zamzam’s connection with the Nile rivers, as even through the tragedy and turbulence of slavery and war, she finds comfort in its waters. The manifestations of the enslaved characters’ traumas were revealed through repetitive, disturbed behavior of both the unconscious and conscious varieties, ranging from memory flashbacks to violent nightmares, as well as complete mental disconnect, derealization, and depersonalization in the face of, and following, the traumatic event.