Abstract：American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer’s 2005 masterpiece, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, tells a sad story about a nine-year-old boy Oskar. Oskar, who is convinced that his father dies in the 9/11 incident, sets out on a mission to contact every person in New York City with the last name of Black in the hope of finding the lock that belongs to the key his father leaves behind. Slightly different from other traumatic writing, Foer carefully chooses some narrative techniques to be close to the nature of trauma in the book, including repetition; visual devices; trauma transfer and narrative perspective. The book not only demonstrates Foer’s unique understanding of the 9/11 incident, but also conveys the true meaning of life.

Key words: trauma; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; repetition; visual devices; trauma transfer

论后911时代创伤文学的叙事策略——以弗尔的《特别响，非常近》为例

摘  要：美国小说家乔纳森•萨福兰•弗尔2015年出版的著作《特别响，非常近》讲述了一个关于9岁男孩奥斯卡的悲惨故事。奥斯卡在911中痛失父亲，他无意中发现了一把父亲生前留下的钥匙，于是他开始试着寻找这把钥匙的主人。与其他创伤叙事略微不同的是，弗尔谨慎地运用了许多文学技巧，为的是使文章无限接近创伤的本质，如重复性、视觉手段、创伤迁移和叙述视角。这本小说不仅展示了弗尔对911事件的独到见解而且也向读者揭示了生命的意义。

关键词：创伤；《特别响，非常近》；重复；视觉手段；创伤迁移；叙述视角

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Trauma Theory and Trauma Literature 1

1.1.1 Origin and Development of Trauma Theory 1

1.1.2 Connection between Trauma Literature and Trauma Theory 1

1.1.3 Characteristics of Trauma Literature in the Post- 9/11 Era 2

1.2 Literature Review 2

1.2.1 A Brief Introduction to the Author and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 2

1.2.2 The Background of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 3

1.2.3 Relative Researches Home and Abroad 3

2 Four Narrative Techniques from the Perspective of Trauma Theory 5

2.1 Repetition 5

2.2 Visual Devices 6

2.3 Trauma Transfer 8

2.4 Narrative Perspective 9

3 Conclusion 11

References 12

he Narrative Techniques of Trauma Literature in the Post-9/11 Era—a Case Study of Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

1 Introduction

1.1 Trauma Theory and Trauma Literature

Currently, trauma theory has been a heated topic in academia. It has been expanded from psychology and psychoanalysis to sociology, literature, filmdom, and other humanities.

1.1.1 Origin and Development of Trauma Theory

Trauma is a Greek word. The original meaning is piercing and tearing of the skin. At present, the trauma theory that is often cited by researchers comes from Freud. In his book A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, he defined trauma as follows, “An event in the subject’s life, defined by its intensity, by the subject’s incapacity to respond adequately to it and by the upheaval and long-lasting effects that it brings about the psychical organization” (Freud). Freud was inspired by the research on the hysteria and hypnosis done by a French doctor at the beginning of his study. He believed that the repetitive memory of fear could cause trauma after a sudden or catastrophic event. Later, he enlarged the scope of his research and published his famous book Beyond the Pleasure Principle. In that book, Freud analyzed the traumatic consequences further, believing that repetition-compulsion would continue to emerge and cause neurosis. And the research done by Freud can be regarded as the origin of trauma theory. Contemporary trauma study dated back to 1980s when post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) was first included in a canon by American Psychological Association. Nowadays, the most recognized description about trauma is given by Cathy Caruth. Cathy finds in trauma: trauma describes an overwhelming experience of sudden or catastrophic events in which the response to the event occurs in the often delayed, uncontrolled, repetitive appearances of hallucination and other intrusive phenomena.( Cathy, 1995)