Traumatic Experience in J. M. Coetzee's Youth

Abstract

The present dissertation on Youth by J.M. Coetzee attempts to show a vivid portrayal of traumatic experience of the characters in 1950s triggered by the violence of colonization, resistance over indirect colonization in the postcolonial era. Coetzee, here, shows the dejected life of the protagonist as an exile in London. The protagonist's delirium caused by the gaps and disruptions of history conflates with the racial violence and the protest of Blacks. The violence and his exile force the character to experience the historical trauma. The traces of colonial mentality and the burden of communal guilt increase the pressure of trauma, he experiences.