This qualitative research study explores how racial identity and racial trauma impacts a chaplain's clinical work. In the study, I interviewed eleven professional chaplains who have experienced racial situations either in their past or in their work or both and how those experiences have influenced their professional growth. After evaluating the responses of the interview, I was able to determine a number of findings that I believe would be helpful as chaplains continue to provide spiritual support in the culturally diverse hospice and hospital settings.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A century of clinical observations and literature has repeatedly noted that trauma responses occur in across a spectrum and on a continuum of severity. The existing, DSMIV trauma response classifications include Acute Stress Disorder and PTSD as anxiety disorders. Complex PTSD or DESNOS was considered as a proposed, alternative classification during the DSM-IV PTSD Field Trials. It was not included as a separate diagnosis, but briefly mentioned as an associated feature ofPTSD. Subsequent research and replica studies have not proved conclusively whether Complex PTSD should be a separate or associated feature ofPTSD, and the controversy continues to date. Childhood traumatization is strongly associated with adult psychopathology, and various Axis I and Axis II disorders, especially Borderline Personality Disorder, and to a lesser extent, Antisocial Personality Disorder. Prolonged, repeated traumatization during adulthood is also associated with subsequent Axis II pathology, including Borderline, Obsessive-Compulsive and Avoidant Personality Disorders. Chronically traumatized people with Axis II pathology often present with comorbid Axis I disorders including Major Depression, PTSD, Substance Abuse, Somatization Disorder, and Dissociative Disorders. There are divergent views regarding the etiology of personality disorders in chronically traumatized individuals. On the one hand, repeated, prolonged trauma could cause enduring personality dysfunction in individuals despite normal premorbid functioning. On the other hand, genetics, temperament, environmental factors and even a pre-existing stress diathesis in the pre-trauma personality could contribute to the development of post-trauma personality disorders. These two views do not necessary contradict each other, but illustrate the complexity the human stress reaction. Despite the controversy the inclusion of DESNOS into the diagnostic canon, it is a valuable measure of predicting prognosis to existing treatment options. The present main psychological treatment for post-traumatic stress disorders has been a cognitive-behavioral based, exposure intervention. Alternative therapies include psychodynamic approaches, pastoral interventions and more recently, ecological and recovery based models. The Complex PTSD conceptualization contributes to a better understanding of the personality structure of chronically traumatized people. There are three main areas of disturbance. Firstly, a complex symptomatic presentation including somatization, dissociation, and affect dysregulation. Secondly, deep characterological shifts including deformations in concepts of relatedness and identity. Thirdly, and increased vulnerability to harm, either self-inflicted or at the hands of others. The usefulness of integrating these three concepts into the personality conceptualization of chronically traumatized individuals is illustrated a case study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die literatuur en kliniese waarneming vand die afgelope eeu dui herhaaldelik op trauma reaksies oor 'n spektrum. In die bestaande DSM-IV stelsel, val trauma reaksies net Akute Stress Steuring and Post-Traumatiese Stress Steuring. Hoewel Komplekse PTSD in 1992 voorgestel was as 'n alternatiefin die DSM-IV, is dit nie as aparte diagnose ingesluit is nie, maar wel wel gelys as geassosieerde symptoom van PTSD. Latere navorsing en duplikaat studies het nog nie konklusiefbewys of Komplekse PTSD 'n geassosieerde or aparte simptoom van PTSD is nie, en debat duur nog voort. Trauma gedurende kinderjare word sterk geassosieer met volwasse psigopatologie en verskeie As I en As II steurings, veral Grenslyn Persoonlikheids Steuring, en tot In mindere mate, Antisosiale Persoonlikheids Steuring. Langstaande, herhaalde traumatisering gedurende volwassenheid word ook geassosieer met latere As II patologie, insluitende, Grenslyn, Obsessief-Kompulsief en Vermydende Persoonlikheids Steurings, Kronies getraumatiseerde individue met As II patologie presenteer ook dikwels met komorbiede As II steurings insluitende Major Depressie, Post-Traumatiese Stres Steuring, Somatiserings Steuring, and Dissosiatiewe Steurings. Daar is uiteenlopende sienings oor die etiologie van persoonlikheids steurings in kronies getraumatiseerde individue. Aan die een kant, kan langstaande, herhaalde trauma persoonlikheids veranderinge veroorsaak ongeag normale premorbide funksionering. Aan die ander kant, kan genetika, temperament, omgewing en'n pre-morbide stressvatbaarheid almal bydra tot die ontwikkeling van post-trauma persoonlikheids steurings. Hierdie twee sienings weerspreek mekaar nie noodwendig nie, maar dui op die kompleksiteit van die menslike stres reaksie. Ongeag die akademiese debakeloor die insluiting van die Kompleks PTSD konseptualisasie in DSM-IV diagnostiese stelsel, is dit 'n waardevolle praktiese meetinstrument van prognose onder bestaande behandelings opsies. Tot dusver word die primere sielkundige intervensies gebaseer op 'n kognitiewe-gedragsterapie model. Alternatiewe terapieë sluit in psigodinamiese, pastorale en meer onlangse ekologiese en herstel-gebasseerde intervensies. Die Kompleks PTSD konseptualisasie dra by tot beter kennis oor die persoonlikheids struktuur van kronies, getraumatiseerde mense. Daar is drie hoof areas of versteuring. Eerstens, a komplekse simptomatiese presentasie insluitende somatisering, dissosiasie en affek disregulasie. Tweedens, diep veranderings in karakter insluitende versteurings in identiteit en interpersoonlike verhoudings. Derdens, in groter vatbaarheid vir seerkry, of aan hulle eie hande, of aan die hande van ander. Die waarde van die integrasie van hierdie drie konsepte in die persoonlikheids konseptualisasie van kronies getraumatiseerde individue word geillustreer deur 'n gevallestudie.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of English, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74).

D.Phil. / Profound psychological trauma, which may lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can continue to negatively impact the lives of its victims for years after its occurrence. Psychological trauma is seen across cultures in people of all ages, the world over, and South Africa’s high levels of crime and violence, HIV and AIDS, and road accidents, make the topic especially pertinent. The symptom clusters of PTSD, included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition – text revised (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), namely Re-experiencing, Avoidance and numbing, and Increased Arousal can lead to significant distress and may interfere with all facets of life, including social functioning, career goals, romantic relationships, leisure activities, and mental wellbeing. The effects of trauma in childhood may be different than when it occurs in adulthood, due to developmental processes occurring on physical, emotional, and cognitive levels (e.g. Drell, Siegel, & Gaensbauer, 1993; Perrin, Smith, & Yule, 2000). As such it is clearly important to understand the effects of trauma specific to children. A fair amount of literature is available which discusses the emotional and psychological consequences of trauma in children. Similar studies with regard to PTSD are also available. However, a holistic picture of either psychological trauma, or PTSD in childhood should also include neuropsychological aspects, functions such as attention and concentration, planning, organisation, psychomotor speed, and memory in which dysfunction may interfere with children’s development and futures. Although the field of neuropsychology has traditionally investigated how the brain responds to physical trauma or disease processes, recent decades of technological advancement have made it possible to understand that psychological trauma may actually result in neurobiological abnormalities.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sometimes it is not entirely clear why certain clients improve. Critical clinical ingredients which may have led to this improvement or recovery are hard to identify and describe and decisions about therapeutic interventions often appear to be intuitive rather than following a strict modus operandi. This is true particularly if refractory or chronic cases start to improve and maintain this improvement. Refractory and chronic cases are the norm amongst clients suffering from complex, chronic trauma, also termed complex PTSD. Complex trauma is a multi-facetted, often multi-layered condition. It includes damage to the individuals’ self and to her ability to interpersonally relate, additionally to the DSM IV TR diagnosis of PTSD. Due to the manifold unique presentations of the syndrome, particular after long-term exposure and confounded by co-morbidities and rigid defenses, it is difficult to diagnose and treat the condition effectively. This study focuses on one such complex trauma case with an initially very poor prognosis, which improved significantly over a treatment period of eighteen months. The therapeutic intervention and progression of the case are closely examined, using the phenomenological method, with the aim of discerning and describing themes and patterns that could assist in understanding the healing process of this client during therapy and to promote further research in this regard. Integration of psychodynamic conceptualization, particularly self-psychology and intersubjectivity, and person-centered, supportive therapeutic methods were found helpful in the treatment of this case. The common factor to these approaches is their emphasis on the relationship between client and therapist. This therapeutic relationship was concluded to be the determining factor in the successful treatment of this client, because it addressed damage to self and to her relational ability. The research took place concurrent to the therapy with the client and this process led to a degree of integration on three levels: integration of the client’s self and interpersonal functioning, integration of the abovementioned approaches to form a creative synthesis in the therapist’s individual approach to trauma clients, and the integration of a phenomenological methodology with a psychodynamically conceptualized case study. It is noted that the theoretical explorations and therapeutic procedures described and explored in this study are but one way to conceptualize and treat complex trauma. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Somtyds is dit nie duidelik hoekom sekere kliente se toestand verbeter nie. Dit is soms moeilik om die kritiese bestanddele wat tot hierdie verbetering of herstel gelei het, te identifiseer en te beskryf. Besluite met betrekking op therapeutiese intervensies blyk dikwels eerder intuitief, as die gevolg van ‘n streng modus operandi, te wees. Dit is spesifiek die geval wanneer chroniese en hardnekkige gevalle begin om te verbeter en die verbetering volhou. Hardnekkige en chroniese gevalle is nie ongewoon by kliente wat aan komplekse, chroniese trauma - ook genoem komplekse post-traumatiese stressversteuring - ly nie. Komplekse trauma is ‘n multi-fasettige toestand, wat dikwels ‘n verskeidenheid lae of vlakke van versteuring opwys. Dit sluit skade tot die individu se self in, asook verlies aan vaardigheid om met ander mense suksesvolle interpersoonlike verhoudings op te bou. Hierdie kenmerke is toevoegings tot die diagnose van die sindroom soos uitgevoer in die DSM IV TR. As gevolg van die meervoudige unieke voorstellings van die sindroom - in besonder na langtermyn blootstelling en verwarring deur co-ongesteldhede en rigiede verdedigings - is dit moeilik om die toestand korrek te diagnoseer en efektief te behandel. Hierdie studie fokus op die soort geval wat aanvanklik ‘n baie swak prognose gehad het, maar vervolgens oor ‘n tydperk van 18 maande ‘n beduidende verbetering getoon het. Die terapeutiese intervensie en die progressie van die geval is in hierdie studie noukeurig ondersoek, deur gebruik te maak van fenomenologiese ondersoekmetodes, met die doel om temas en patrone vas te stel en te beskryf wat die begrip van die genesingsproses van die klient gedurende terapie moontlik kan bevorder, en wat verdere navorsing op hierdie gebied kan stimuleer. Integrasie van psigodinamiese konseptualisering (spesifiek self-sielkunde en intersubjektiwiteit) asook persoongesentreerde, ondersteunende beradingsmetodes, is as waardevol bevind in die behandeling van hierdie geval . Die gemeenskaplike faktor tot hierdie benaderings is die klem op die verhouding tussen klient and terapeut. Die gevolgtrekking is gemaak dat hierdie terapeutiese verhouding die bepalende faktor in die sukkesvolle behandeling van hierdie klient was, omdat dit sowel die skade aan die self as die verlies aan die vaardigheid om verhoudings te bou, aangespreek het. Die navorsing en die terapeutiese intervensie met die klient het terselftertyd plaasgevind, en die proses het ten slotte tot ‘n mate van integrasie op drie vlakke gelei: integrasie van die klient se self en herstelling van interpersoonlike funksionering, integrasie van die bogenoemde benaderings wat tot ‘n kreatiewe sintese in die berader se benadering tot trauma behandeling gelei het, en die integrasie van fenomenologiese metodes en psigodinamies konseptualisering in ‘n gevallestudie. Dit is belangrik om in gedagte te hou dat die teoretiese navorsing en praktiese prosedures wat in hierdie studie beskryf en uiteengesit is, net een manier is om komplekse trauma te konseptualiseer en te behandel.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The present study explores the experiences of abused women who kill their intimate male partners and are imprisoned as a result. It looks at the multiple traumas associated with the abuse, killing and imprisonment. Abuse of women violates their right of freedom and security, as well as the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The experiences are explored within a prison context in which these women are serving hefty sentences as a means of punishment. This is a means of prosecuting perpetrators by the criminal justice system, thus sending out a message that violence is unacceptable. The prison context is metaphorically and physically associated with phenomenon such as isolation, control, labelling, punishment, reform and rehabilitation, among many others. Social Constructionism as a postmodern epistemology becomes relevant in this study in that the concern is in explicating the process by which people come to describe, explain, or otherwise account for the world (including themselves) in which they live. Therefore, the abused women’s experiences are descriptions to be understood through the analysis of the intersubjective influence of language, family, and culture. The implication being that social construction reflects on that which is said about the world, which is the product of shared conventions of discourse that are guided by and limited by the systems of language that we use. Our understandings of reality are embedded in our patterns of action, and these understandings constrain future constructions. Language as an important tool in social constructionism is embedded in the ideas, concepts and memories arising from social discourse and is found in neither the speaker nor the hearer, but somewhere in between. Furthermore, the context of prison afforded me with the opportunity to experience a sense of communality with the women, which according to a social constructionist stance suggests that reality is co-created between people in their quest for meaning from the interpreted experiences. There is no absolute truth that represents its objectivity, implying that as the researcher, I am not entering the system searching for some single truth that is ultimate. This acknowledges that there are realities and reflexivity of events and situations that look for many alternatives deconstructed and constructed equally between the researcher and participants. In conducting this study, a qualitative method of research was used, which focuses on the description, exploration and elaboration of experiences and perspectives of the people being interviewed. The qualitative method is not concerned with numbers and statistical analysis in the way that the quantitative method is. The participants take active charge in describing and exploring experiences that bring about meaning to them and the study. The researcher is equally involved as the participants, and becomes the participant observer. Whilst the focus was directed towards experiences of abuse and the multiple implications of trauma on abused women, the larger social context of their experiences was acknowledged. Five women offenders who are in the Potchefstroom prison, participated in this research. The women were allowed to elaborate on their experiences as experts in their own lives. Through this interaction a relational process of sharing and support emerges, which is characteristic of therapeutic practices with social constructionism. In-depth semi-structured interviews provided a means to explore their incidents of abuse as perpetrated by their intimate male partners. For the purpose of collecting data, an open-ended questionnaire was used. A thematic content method was used to analyse data. Here themes are identified that represent the meaning of events constructed by the participants themselves. A thematic analysis reflected the following themes: Loss and gain, power and helplessness, hope and despair as well as connection and disconnection. Upon the identification and analysis of themes, the discussion of findings which are integrated using the social constructionist theory, was conducted. From the findings the implications of multiple traumas abused women suffer at the hands of their intimate male partners, and the result of killing and imprisonment, are explored.

A presente dissertação configura-se como uma interrogação à teoria psicanalítica acerca das ressonâncias do traumatismo na função psíquica da memória. Ambos são conceitos que remetem aos fundamentos da psicanálise, apontando para a constituição do psiquismo, bem como para seus limites. A dissertação procura ampliar o estudo da temática para além da obra de Freud e alcançar as contribuições de Sandor Ferenczi e seus desdobramentos na obra de Nicolas Abraham e Maria Torok. Em Freud, as relações de trauma e memória, principalmente a partir da conceituação de um além do princípio do prazer, apontam para o funcionamento, ou melhor, às falhas de funcionamento nos limites do psíquico - entre corpo e psique, entre percepção e representação - responsáveis pela instauração da memória e a diferenciação psíquica. O traumático foi associado à dinâmica da pulsão de morte e a da angústia automática, que faz continuamente uma demanda de trabalho psíquico, de ligação, anterior à instauração do princípio de prazer. Quando não há possibilidade de ligação e transcrição do acontecimento, seus efeitos apresentam-se de forma negativa como danos narcísicos. Ferenczi considera o papel do objeto como determinante em relação ao destino traumático de um acontecimento. Caso o objeto não possa adaptar-se às necessidades do sujeito e fornecer ou legitimar um sentido ao vivido, interrompe-se o processo de introjeção e inscrição psíquica. Frente ao desamparo psíquico decorrente da ausência de investimento do objeto, o psiquismo se defende por meio da clivagem das impressões traumáticas ou imerge em comoção, da qual não resta memória. Nicolas Abraham e Maria Torok acrescentam que um acontecimento que permaneceu clivado no psiquismo de uma geração - impossibilitado de circulação e figurabilidade - é transmitido enquanto lacuna de memória para a próxima geração. A imagem do trauma como avesso da memória é paradoxal, pois remete tanto às impressões que aguardam uma revelação por meio de uma ligação com uma imagem, no modelo dos sonhos traumáticos, como à pura negatividade relativa à falta de representação, da qual um sentido pode advir mediante somente uma construção que produza um sentimento de convicção. Tal imagem paradoxal pretende oferecer uma reserva psíquica/teórica ao analista enquanto uma figurabilidade possível das ressonâncias do traumático na memória. / The present essay comprises of an interrogation to psychoanalysis theory about the consequences of trauma in the memory psychic role. Both of them are concepts that refer to the psychoanalysis fundamentals, leading to the psychism constitution, as well as to its boundaries. The dissertation attempts to expand the set of themes beyond Freuds work and reaches out Sandor Ferenczis contributions and its unfoldings into Nicolas Abraham and Maria Toroks works. In Freuds, the connections within trauma and memory, especially from the conceptualization of a further than the pleasure principle, point out to the functioning, or even better, the non-functioning gaps at the psychism boundaries - between body and psyche, within perception and representation responsible for memory establishment and psychic differentiation. The traumatic was associated to death instinct and the automatic anguish, which continuously calls forth a psychic work demand, of connection, prior to the pleasure principle instauration. When there is no possibility of connection and transcription of the incident, its effects present themselves in a negative way such as narcissistic damage. Ferenczi considers the object role as determinant on the traumatic event destination. In case the object can not adapt to the subjects needs and provide or legitimate a meaning to what was lived, there is an interruption on the process of introjection and psychic inscription. Face the psychic abandonment due to the absence of the object investment, the psychism defends itself through the cleavage of the traumatic impressions or it immerges in comotion, of which remains no memory. Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok add that an event that has remained cleaved in the psychism of a generation incapable of circulation and figurability is forwarded to the next generation as a memory lacuna. The image of trauma as the inverted side of the memory is paradoxical, once it refers to the impressions that await a revelation through a link with an image, in the traumatic dreams model, as much as to the pure negativity related to the lack of representation, from which a meaning can only occur by means of a construction that produces a conviction feeling. Such self-contradictory image intends to offer a theoretic/psychic restraint to the analist as a possible figurability of the resonances of the traumatic in the memory.

From 1914 to 1940 Russia lived through a series of traumatic events: World War I, the Bolshevik revolution, the Civil War, famine, and the Bolshevik and subsequently Stalinist terror. These events precipitated and facilitated a complete breakdown of the status quo associated with the tsarist regime and led to the emergence and eventual pervasive presence of a culture of violence propagated by the Bolshevik regime. This dissertation explores how the ongoing exposure to trauma impaired ordinary perception and everyday language use, which, in turn, informed literary language use in the writings of Viktor Shklovsky, the prominent Formalist theoretician, and of the avant-garde writer, Daniil Kharms. While trauma studies usually focus on the reconstructive and redeeming features of trauma narratives, I invite readers to explore the structural features of literary language and how these features parallel mechanisms of cognitive processing, established by medical research, that take place in the mind affected by traumatic encounters. Central to my analysis are Shklovsky's memoir A Sentimental Journey and his early articles on the theory of prose "Art as Device" and "The Relationship between Devices of Plot Construction and General Devices of Style" and Daniil Karms's theoretical writings on the concepts of "nothingness," "circle," and "zero," and his prose work written in the 1930s. My analysis probes into various modes in which trauma can present itself in a text, in forms other than semantic content, and points to what distinguishes a modernist text from one written under the impairing conditions of trauma, despite their structural similarities.

A presente dissertação configura-se como uma interrogação à teoria psicanalítica acerca das ressonâncias do traumatismo na função psíquica da memória. Ambos são conceitos que remetem aos fundamentos da psicanálise, apontando para a constituição do psiquismo, bem como para seus limites. A dissertação procura ampliar o estudo da temática para além da obra de Freud e alcançar as contribuições de Sandor Ferenczi e seus desdobramentos na obra de Nicolas Abraham e Maria Torok. Em Freud, as relações de trauma e memória, principalmente a partir da conceituação de um além do princípio do prazer, apontam para o funcionamento, ou melhor, às falhas de funcionamento nos limites do psíquico - entre corpo e psique, entre percepção e representação - responsáveis pela instauração da memória e a diferenciação psíquica. O traumático foi associado à dinâmica da pulsão de morte e a da angústia automática, que faz continuamente uma demanda de trabalho psíquico, de ligação, anterior à instauração do princípio de prazer. Quando não há possibilidade de ligação e transcrição do acontecimento, seus efeitos apresentam-se de forma negativa como danos narcísicos. Ferenczi considera o papel do objeto como determinante em relação ao destino traumático de um acontecimento. Caso o objeto não possa adaptar-se às necessidades do sujeito e fornecer ou legitimar um sentido ao vivido, interrompe-se o processo de introjeção e inscrição psíquica. Frente ao desamparo psíquico decorrente da ausência de investimento do objeto, o psiquismo se defende por meio da clivagem das impressões traumáticas ou imerge em comoção, da qual não resta memória. Nicolas Abraham e Maria Torok acrescentam que um acontecimento que permaneceu clivado no psiquismo de uma geração - impossibilitado de circulação e figurabilidade - é transmitido enquanto lacuna de memória para a próxima geração. A imagem do trauma como avesso da memória é paradoxal, pois remete tanto às impressões que aguardam uma revelação por meio de uma ligação com uma imagem, no modelo dos sonhos traumáticos, como à pura negatividade relativa à falta de representação, da qual um sentido pode advir mediante somente uma construção que produza um sentimento de convicção. Tal imagem paradoxal pretende oferecer uma reserva psíquica/teórica ao analista enquanto uma figurabilidade possível das ressonâncias do traumático na memória. / The present essay comprises of an interrogation to psychoanalysis theory about the consequences of trauma in the memory psychic role. Both of them are concepts that refer to the psychoanalysis fundamentals, leading to the psychism constitution, as well as to its boundaries. The dissertation attempts to expand the set of themes beyond Freuds work and reaches out Sandor Ferenczis contributions and its unfoldings into Nicolas Abraham and Maria Toroks works. In Freuds, the connections within trauma and memory, especially from the conceptualization of a further than the pleasure principle, point out to the functioning, or even better, the non-functioning gaps at the psychism boundaries - between body and psyche, within perception and representation responsible for memory establishment and psychic differentiation. The traumatic was associated to death instinct and the automatic anguish, which continuously calls forth a psychic work demand, of connection, prior to the pleasure principle instauration. When there is no possibility of connection and transcription of the incident, its effects present themselves in a negative way such as narcissistic damage. Ferenczi considers the object role as determinant on the traumatic event destination. In case the object can not adapt to the subjects needs and provide or legitimate a meaning to what was lived, there is an interruption on the process of introjection and psychic inscription. Face the psychic abandonment due to the absence of the object investment, the psychism defends itself through the cleavage of the traumatic impressions or it immerges in comotion, of which remains no memory. Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok add that an event that has remained cleaved in the psychism of a generation incapable of circulation and figurability is forwarded to the next generation as a memory lacuna. The image of trauma as the inverted side of the memory is paradoxical, once it refers to the impressions that await a revelation through a link with an image, in the traumatic dreams model, as much as to the pure negativity related to the lack of representation, from which a meaning can only occur by means of a construction that produces a conviction feeling. Such self-contradictory image intends to offer a theoretic/psychic restraint to the analist as a possible figurability of the resonances of the traumatic in the memory.

The works of creative writing which culminate in this thesis explore themes of everyday trauma, the gendered body as rendered in writing, and writing as propelled by the aural senses above factors such as logic and plot. Dysphoria of identity through gendered, geographical, and institutional means pervades each work in instances that range from the subtle to the all-consuming. Rhythm and intuition bond at the sentence level in each work, rendering a wildness to the pages. Moved by sensation rather than a drive to make something abundantly clear, the revelations of reading arrive at a level of the associative, the dreamy, and the sound of certain syllables and words as juxtaposed with deliberation posing as spontaneity. Grappling with a simultaneous urge to assimilate and to reject societal and geographical cultural norms, there is a fraught tension and a charged friction to the entire thesis herein.