Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University English Theses Department of English 7-10-2008 Transgenerational Ghosting in the Psyches and Somas of African Americans and their Literatures Sonya Lynette McCoy-Wilson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_theses Recommended Citation McCoy-Wilson, Sonya Lynette, "Transgenerational Ghosting in the Psyches and Somas of African Americans and their Literatures." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2008. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_theses/39 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. TRANSGENERATIONAL GHOSTING IN THE PSYCHES AND SOMAS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THEIR LITERATURES By Sonya McCoy-Wilson Under the Direction of Dr. Janet Gabler-Hover ABSTRACT I argue that William Wells Brown’s narrative, Clotel, is informed by the white racism inherent in Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia and reveals evidence of the trauma it has fostered transgenerationally. By examining Toni Morrison’s Beloved, I assert that the trauma of slavery is transmitted transgenerationally in the black female body. I develop my argument using trauma theory, postulated through the work of Cathy Caruth, Dori Laub, Diana Miles, Abraham and Maria Torok, and William Cross. My purpose is to reveal the relevance and lasting significance of the legacy of slavery in contemporary American society. Thomas Jefferson’s white supremacist ideas, along with the system of slavery which nurtured them, continue to plague contemporary American thought and continue to shape African American female identity.