Shattered Subjects Women's Life-Writing and Narrative Recovery

This text explores the autobiographical testimonies of six 20th-century women authors whose writings employ narratives of "scriptotherapy" in order to heal the wounds of psychological trauma. This psychoanalytic study focuses on the sexual/textual inscription of traumatic narrative as the focal point of a large body of autobiographical practice representing the genre of narrative recovery. The literary testimonies of Colette, Hilda Doolittle, Anais Nin, Audre Lorde, Janet Frame, and Sylvia Fraser provide evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder precipitated by rape, incest, childhood sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy loss, or a severe illness that threatens the integrity of the body. The compelling writings produced by these experiences are examined for their patterns of similarity and their points of uniqueness. The book suggests that the powerful medium of written autobiographical testimony may make the resolution or reconfiguration of the most emotionally distressing experiences possible.