CHARACTERIZATIONS of TRAUMA in LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION by Dylan Owsiany a Thesis Submitted to the Faculty Of
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CHARACTERIZATIONS OF TRAUMA IN LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION by Dylan Owsiany A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL December 2019 Copyright 2019 by Dylan Owsiany ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would have been impossible without the guidance and encouragement of several wonderful people. First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. McGuirk, Dr. Martin, and Dr. Barrios for their tremendous help and patience in writing this. Their classes, feedback, and support over the years have greatly influenced the direction of this thesis, and they were instrumental in helping me find confidence in my academic voice. A big thank you to Tiffany Frost as well for keeping me on the right track and shedding away any lingering doubts and fears that this would never come to fruition. Additionally, a huge thank you—and lots of love—to my parents, Carol Salterella and Matthew Owsiany, whose own struggles with PTSD have proven, time and again, their strength and courage. Lastly, I would never have made it this far without the love and dedication of my partner, PJ Brancaleone. He has been my grounding force for so many years, and with his undying help and commitment I have learned to cope with my own PTSD. Words can never express how grateful I am that you are in my life or how much I love you. iv ABSTRACT Author: Dylan Owsiany Title: CHARACTERIZATIONS OF TRAUMA IN LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Carol McGuirk Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2019 The prevalence and impact of trauma has been mischaracterized and misinterpreted throughout time, and this has undoubtedly affected the health and treatment of countless people throughout history. Considering this, some authors impacted by firsthand or cultural traumas before and/or during World War II and the Cold War era, went on to write works of science fiction that handled heavy and taboo characterizations of traumatic stress. Looking back at these short stories and novels with a modern clinical perspective of the impacts of trauma, one can see how these characterizations turned out to be strikingly accurate, or, at the very least, closer to truth than perspectives and hypotheses of their era. Two short stories, “Thunder and Roses” by Theodore Sturgeon and “Scanners Live in Vain” by Cordwainer Smith, and two novels, The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, will be examined. v DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to all those who struggled with PTSD or anxiety disorders to their end. As such, I would like to honor my great uncle, Otilio (Teddy) Rosa Jr., who, like countless who served in World War II, bravely fought human atrocity at the expense of his mental health and lived a tragically short life because of it. Your sacrifice has not been forgotten. Likewise, I would like to extend this dedication to all those who live with or are still learning to cope with PTSD and anxiety disorders. Life can—and will—get better. CHARACTERIZATIONS OF TRAUMA IN TWENTIETH CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION INTRODUCTION: THE EMERGENCE OF TRAUMA STUDIES AND SCIENCE FICTION ....................................................................................... 1 The Popularization of Science Fiction and Fantasy ...................................................2 Science Fiction as an Outlet .......................................................................................5 In Summary ................................................................................................................6 UNDERSTANDING TRAUMATIC STRESS AND PTSD .............................................. 8 Variations in Traumatic Stress ...................................................................................9 Comorbidity and CSR ..............................................................................................11 Important Reactions to Trauma ................................................................................12 EARLY CLINICAL PERCEPTIONS OF TRAUMA ...................................................... 15 “CRACKING UP”: REACTIONS TO SUSTAINED TRAUMA IN “THUNDER AND ROSES”.............................................................................. 18 GOING “UNDER-THE-WIRE”: TRAUMA AND TRANSFORMATION IN “SCANNERS LIVE IN VAIN”......................................................................... 27 “THOUGHTS IN ROTS”: JULIANA’S UNDERLYING TRAUMA IN THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE ................................................................... 38 “COMING UNSTUCK”: DEFAMILIARIZING COMBAT-RELATED TRAUMA IN SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE .............................................................................. 55 CONCLUSION: THE IMPORTANCE OF LOOKING BACK ...................................... 69 vii REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 71 viii INTRODUCTION: THE EMERGENCE OF TRAUMA STUDIES AND SCIENCE FICTION The prevalence and impact of trauma has been mischaracterized and misinterpreted throughout time until the past several decades, and this has no doubt affected the health and treatment of countless people throughout history. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 7 to 8% of those living in the U.S. will have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD) at some point in their life (2018). This percentage may continue to grow considering the rate of mass shootings and acts of terrorism, as well as the polarizing political landscape that continues to broil over into our everyday lives. Historically, the subject of trauma was a taboo and neglected topic. Clinical—and especially experimental—studies dating back before World War II are scarce, and we only start seeing a growing interest in the topic of what was known back then as “shell shock” after soldiers began returning from the war different and, in a way, absent. Drafted friends and loved ones alike would return home to their relieved families only to withdraw and isolate themselves with vain attempts at bottling up and shielding others from the horrors they experienced and dutifully carried with them. This trend only worsened by the end of the Vietnam war, when many young veterans came back addicted to drugs and alcohol and suffering from reoccurring or unyielding bouts of depressive and/or manic behaviors, lashing out at others or becoming lost in the memories that they strove hard to push down and forget. 1 Following the end of World War II and near the start of the Vietnam war, the international peace movement of the 1960s began popularizing the shift in awareness of the atrocities of war by standing up for those not only on the frontlines but those fighting in their own homeland. By promoting love and brotherhood for everyone, peace revolutionaries helped in wiping away previous taboos and fostered the beginning of new dialogues that helped to normalize the act of questioning our government and encouraging empathy and healing for those afflicted by war. After Vietnam, the stories of those soldiers who returned changed and haunted by what they experienced were widely popularized in films such as Full Metal Jacket (1987) and songs such as Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” (1984). Thanks to the growing awareness of the effects of traumatic stress and major advances in technology and healthcare, the study and practice of identifying and treating what is now known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder became a major medical concern. Over time, the study and treatment of traumatic stress and PTSD has become progressively normalized to the point now that it has since moved away from its originally strict association with veterans to first responders and, now finally, civilians alike. Today, the subject of trauma has a much larger prevalence in American culture itself. Those who experience trauma have many more resources and modes of support to turn to than they ever did decades ago. The Popularization of Science Fiction and Fantasy Concurrently, a major shift in popular culture has been the growing appreciation and popularization of works of science fiction and fantasy. While there have been notable 2 series throughout the years that have gained mass popularity even with their genre-heavy worlds, especially Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, recent internationally-acclaimed series such as Game of Thrones and The Avengers have greatly normalized and mainstreamed the originally “nerdy” factor associated with enjoying and immersing oneself in fantastical, speculative worlds. Now, more than ever, genre literatures that were once overlooked or geared toward more niche audiences have larger cultural relevance, and as such there is still much to be gained from promoting and analyzing works of these genres once vastly ignored and underappreciated. That being said, there is a considerable difference in how approachable certain genre literatures are to mass audiences, especially when comparing works of science fiction to fantasy. Whereas both science fiction and modern fantasy literature have various subgenres that have been slowly growing in popularity since the rise of pulp comics and the popularization of modern authorial legends, there are several major differences in genre conventions and developmental histories between the two. For example, science fiction is a relatively new genre,