Traumatic Characters in Southern Vietnamese Novels of the Early 20th Century

Truong Thi Linh (Faculty of Education, Thu dau Mot University, Viet Nam)
Tran Thi My Hien (Faculty of Education, Thu dau Mot University, Viet Nam)

Journal of Education and Social Science
Vol. 3 No. 2 (2027): Journal of Education and Social Science, February 2027

This article explores how past trauma impacts the behavior, gestures, attitudes, and psychology of characters in the present and future... through several Southern Vietnamese novels from the first half of the 20th century. Using statistical classification and synthesis, the study reveals that each character type makes different choices depending on the type of trauma they experienced in the past. All characters are unfortunate, and the conclusion drawn is that the more types of trauma a character suffers, the more negative their actions become, and vice versa. Furthermore, the application of trauma theory in the study of Southern Vietnamese novels from the first half of the 20th century has been largely neglected in previous studies. Therefore, our research partially fills this research gap, especially regarding inter generational trauma (or genetic trauma).