Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions
Contemporary Malaysian literature not only provides a platform of lives, but also functions as an avenue for trauma expressions where writers utilize different narrative strategies to create characters with multiple identities. One of the prominent Chinese-Malaysian contemporary writers Tan Twan Eng...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciedu Press
2023
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/108522/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/108522/1/108522.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848865166978973696 |
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| author | Hou, Xia Omar, Noritah Kaur, Hardev Bahar, Ida Baizura |
| author_facet | Hou, Xia Omar, Noritah Kaur, Hardev Bahar, Ida Baizura |
| author_sort | Hou, Xia |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Contemporary Malaysian literature not only provides a platform of lives, but also functions as an avenue for trauma expressions where writers utilize different narrative strategies to create characters with multiple identities. One of the prominent Chinese-Malaysian contemporary writers Tan Twan Eng deals with the traumatic impact brought by Japanese oppression to Malaya during the 1940s and he offers a traditional Chinese vision of understanding on healing of trauma. His writing offers a unique and compelling perspective on the complexities of identity, memory, and trauma, and has earned him a place as one of the most important contemporary writers from Malaysia. In his works, the Yin-Yang concept can also be applied to the healing of trauma, as it emphasizes the importance of finding balance and harmony between opposing forces in order to achieve wholeness and well-being. Deploying the Yin-Yang concept, he examines how the protagonists in The Gift of Rain (2007) and The Garden of Evening Mists (2012) deal with traumas of war and violence. This paper utilizes Lacapra‟s “work through”, instead of merely attempting to ignore or repress the painful events, confronting them in a way that enables people to process and integrate them, Cathy Caruth‟s trauma theory about timelessness, relatedness, repetition and intrusiveness and Chinese traditional concept of Yin-Yang to analyze the ways of healing traumas. The transition from traumatic memory to narrative memory, in fact is the balance of forgetfulness and remembrance, and balance of mental pain and peace. His application of the Yin-Yang principles provides a potent metaphor for the process of achieving harmony and balance in the face of traumas. His Yin-Yang concept of trauma healing places a strong emphasis on the significance of confronting the past in a way that allows for the integration and transformation of traumatic events while also acknowledging the wider social and cultural settings of trauma. The research may provide a new and harmonious perception to understand traumas. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:00:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-108522 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:00:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Sciedu Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-1085222025-05-14T08:12:26Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/108522/ Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions Hou, Xia Omar, Noritah Kaur, Hardev Bahar, Ida Baizura Contemporary Malaysian literature not only provides a platform of lives, but also functions as an avenue for trauma expressions where writers utilize different narrative strategies to create characters with multiple identities. One of the prominent Chinese-Malaysian contemporary writers Tan Twan Eng deals with the traumatic impact brought by Japanese oppression to Malaya during the 1940s and he offers a traditional Chinese vision of understanding on healing of trauma. His writing offers a unique and compelling perspective on the complexities of identity, memory, and trauma, and has earned him a place as one of the most important contemporary writers from Malaysia. In his works, the Yin-Yang concept can also be applied to the healing of trauma, as it emphasizes the importance of finding balance and harmony between opposing forces in order to achieve wholeness and well-being. Deploying the Yin-Yang concept, he examines how the protagonists in The Gift of Rain (2007) and The Garden of Evening Mists (2012) deal with traumas of war and violence. This paper utilizes Lacapra‟s “work through”, instead of merely attempting to ignore or repress the painful events, confronting them in a way that enables people to process and integrate them, Cathy Caruth‟s trauma theory about timelessness, relatedness, repetition and intrusiveness and Chinese traditional concept of Yin-Yang to analyze the ways of healing traumas. The transition from traumatic memory to narrative memory, in fact is the balance of forgetfulness and remembrance, and balance of mental pain and peace. His application of the Yin-Yang principles provides a potent metaphor for the process of achieving harmony and balance in the face of traumas. His Yin-Yang concept of trauma healing places a strong emphasis on the significance of confronting the past in a way that allows for the integration and transformation of traumatic events while also acknowledging the wider social and cultural settings of trauma. The research may provide a new and harmonious perception to understand traumas. Sciedu Press 2023 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/108522/1/108522.pdf Hou, Xia and Omar, Noritah and Kaur, Hardev and Bahar, Ida Baizura (2023) Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions. World Journal of English Language, 13 (6). pp. 80-87. ISSN 1925-0711; eISSN: 1925-0703 https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/wjel/article/view/23554 10.5430/wjel.v13n6p80 |
| spellingShingle | Hou, Xia Omar, Noritah Kaur, Hardev Bahar, Ida Baizura Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions |
| title | Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions |
| title_full | Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions |
| title_fullStr | Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions |
| title_short | Yin-Yang concept of healing in Tan Twan Eng‟s trauma fictions |
| title_sort | yin-yang concept of healing in tan twan eng‟s trauma fictions |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/108522/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/108522/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/108522/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/108522/1/108522.pdf |