Regeneration de Pat Barker (1991) : la gestion des maux/mots de la Grande Guerre par l’institution psychiatrique
This article deals with a novel, entitled Regeneration, published in 1991 by the English female author Pat Barker. This novel, although set against the backdrop of World War One, depicts neither battles nor scenes of everyday life in the trenches. Instead, the agonistic dimension of this world confl...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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TELEMME - UMR 6570
2011-04-01
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| Series: | Amnis |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/amnis/1157 |
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| Summary: | This article deals with a novel, entitled Regeneration, published in 1991 by the English female author Pat Barker. This novel, although set against the backdrop of World War One, depicts neither battles nor scenes of everyday life in the trenches. Instead, the agonistic dimension of this world conflict is tackled by Pat Barker through the prism of the way the psychiatric institution dealt with war traumas endured by soldiers, traumas of the body and of the mind. These traumas, causing a variety of psychosomatic symptoms, reveal a powerful tension between a deep individual aversion to the extreme violence of combat and an appeal to conform to some collective culture of war rooted in a strong ideal of soldierly and patriotic manliness. Wartime psychiatry, as Barker highlights, often turns out to be very ambiguous when confronted with such traumas. As a matter of fact, there is some continuity between the military institution and the psychiatric institution, as both intend to impose control over the soldiers’ minds as much as over their bodies. Therefore, Regeneration invites us to acknowledge how difficult it was for the sufferings experienced during World War One to be voiced, and also to be listened to. |
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| ISSN: | 1764-7193 |