Terrorism and Trauma: A Comparative Analysis of French-Language Literary Responses to the 2015 Terror Attacks in France

Abstract

This thesis develops a critical framework that draws on trauma theory, postcolonial theory, critical terrorism studies, and perpetrator studies to engage in a comparative literary analysis of five French-language works of fiction written in response to the terror attacks in France in 2015. The five novels analysed are Fouad Laroui’s Ce vain combat que tu livres au monde (2016), Laurence Tardieu’s À la fin le silence (2016), Pascal Manoukian’s Ce que tient ta main droite t’appartient (2017), Frederika Amalia Finkelstein’s Survivre (2017), and Yasmina Khadra’s Khalil (2018). I argue that, through their articulation of trauma in the texts and treatment of the issue of terrorism and radicalisation in France, these five authors successfully challenge traditional understandings of terrorism-related trauma. Furthermore, by writing about individuals or groups who are often excluded from the official narrative, including the perpetrators, vicarious victims who experience terrorism indirectly via the media, and victims of cultural trauma, these five authors not only broaden the understanding of who might experience trauma related to terrorism to varying degrees but also highlight some of the pertinent socio-historical and cultural issues that must be included in conversations about the Paris attacks and terrorism in general. My analysis of these five texts, informed by my theoretical framework, permits me to evaluate the extent to which literary trauma theory, as it stands, accounts adequately for trauma in these novels. Furthermore, by identifying instances where the theory does not adequately account for trauma in these novels, I suggest ways that literary trauma theory might develop beyond its current limitations.