Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s <i>A Lie of the Mind</i>

Guo Jiabin

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16

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Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind

Guo Jiabin

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 8, Issue 3)

Received: 3 August 2023 Accepted: 22 August 2023 Published: 31 August 2023

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Abstract

Sam Shepard’s family plays, such as Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, True West, and Fool for Love, are replete with absent fathers, haunted sons, and marginalized mothers and daughters, all are linked thematically in their examination of familial disintegration in a fractured society. As the conclusion of Shepard’s “family quintet,” A Lie of the Mind (1985) symbolizes a major break in Shepard’s career. The play not only addresses the fragmentation that results from domestic violence, gender conflict, and war trauma, but also explores individual repair and family resilience in the transgenerational transmission of trauma. It represents Shepard’s first clear move away from cultural determinism towards a genuine belief in the potential for personal transformation and the re-establishment of familial connections that are essential to building post-traumatic resilience. In light of the theories of transgenerational trauma and family resilience, this essay will examine the vulnerability and positive adaptation of some of the play’s main characters, who experience traumatic events and then develop effective ways to heal and recover. In the case of the play, Shepard criticizes American cultural heritage that is transmitted through successive generations, especially the Anglo-American cultural ideal of the “rugged individualism” and myths of “invulnerability” and “self-sufficiency,” advocating instead a relational view that emphasizes connectedness and interdependence with others.

Published in	English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 8, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16
Page(s)	65-71
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Sam Shepard, A Lie of the Mind, Fragmentation, Transgenerational Trauma, Family Resilience

References

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[5]	Creedon, Emma. (2015). Sam Shepard and the Aesthetics of Performance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
[6]	DeRose, David J. (1993). “A Kind of Cavorting: Superpresence and Shepard’s Family Dramas.” Rereading Shepard: Contemporary Critical Essays on the Plays of Sam Shepard. Leonard Wilcox. (ed.), New York: St. Martin’s Press. 131-149.
[7]	Falk, Florence. (1981). “Men Without Women: The Shepard Landscape.” American Dreams: The Imagination of Sam Shepard. Bonnie Marranca. (ed.), New York: PAJ Publications. 90-103.
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[12]	He, Chengzhou. (2018). “Trauma and Resilience in Literature: The Chinese One-Child Policy and Mo Yan’s Novel Wa (Frog).” Orbis Litterarum, 73 (5), 395-404.
[13]	Herman, Judith. (2015). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. 3rd ed. New York: Basic Books.
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[16]	Hirsch, Marianne. (2012). The Generation of Postmemory: Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust. New York: Columbia University Press.
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APA Style

Guo Jiabin. (2023). Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind. English Language, Literature & Culture, 8(3), 65-71. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16

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Guo Jiabin. Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2023, 8(3), 65-71. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16

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AMA Style

Guo Jiabin. Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2023;8(3):65-71. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16,
  author = {Guo Jiabin},
  title = {Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {8},
  number = {3},
  pages = {65-71},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20230803.16},
  abstract = {Sam Shepard’s family plays, such as Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, True West, and Fool for Love, are replete with absent fathers, haunted sons, and marginalized mothers and daughters, all are linked thematically in their examination of familial disintegration in a fractured society. As the conclusion of Shepard’s “family quintet,” A Lie of the Mind (1985) symbolizes a major break in Shepard’s career. The play not only addresses the fragmentation that results from domestic violence, gender conflict, and war trauma, but also explores individual repair and family resilience in the transgenerational transmission of trauma. It represents Shepard’s first clear move away from cultural determinism towards a genuine belief in the potential for personal transformation and the re-establishment of familial connections that are essential to building post-traumatic resilience. In light of the theories of transgenerational trauma and family resilience, this essay will examine the vulnerability and positive adaptation of some of the play’s main characters, who experience traumatic events and then develop effective ways to heal and recover. In the case of the play, Shepard criticizes American cultural heritage that is transmitted through successive generations, especially the Anglo-American cultural ideal of the “rugged individualism” and myths of “invulnerability” and “self-sufficiency,” advocating instead a relational view that emphasizes connectedness and interdependence with others.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind
AU  - Guo Jiabin
Y1  - 2023/08/31
PY  - 2023
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
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AB  - Sam Shepard’s family plays, such as Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, True West, and Fool for Love, are replete with absent fathers, haunted sons, and marginalized mothers and daughters, all are linked thematically in their examination of familial disintegration in a fractured society. As the conclusion of Shepard’s “family quintet,” A Lie of the Mind (1985) symbolizes a major break in Shepard’s career. The play not only addresses the fragmentation that results from domestic violence, gender conflict, and war trauma, but also explores individual repair and family resilience in the transgenerational transmission of trauma. It represents Shepard’s first clear move away from cultural determinism towards a genuine belief in the potential for personal transformation and the re-establishment of familial connections that are essential to building post-traumatic resilience. In light of the theories of transgenerational trauma and family resilience, this essay will examine the vulnerability and positive adaptation of some of the play’s main characters, who experience traumatic events and then develop effective ways to heal and recover. In the case of the play, Shepard criticizes American cultural heritage that is transmitted through successive generations, especially the Anglo-American cultural ideal of the “rugged individualism” and myths of “invulnerability” and “self-sufficiency,” advocating instead a relational view that emphasizes connectedness and interdependence with others.
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
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Author Information

Guo Jiabin

School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

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Guo Jiabin. (2023). Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind. English Language, Literature & Culture, 8(3), 65-71. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16

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Guo Jiabin. Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2023, 8(3), 65-71. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16

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AMA Style

Guo Jiabin. Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2023;8(3):65-71. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16,
  author = {Guo Jiabin},
  title = {Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {8},
  number = {3},
  pages = {65-71},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20230803.16},
  abstract = {Sam Shepard’s family plays, such as Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, True West, and Fool for Love, are replete with absent fathers, haunted sons, and marginalized mothers and daughters, all are linked thematically in their examination of familial disintegration in a fractured society. As the conclusion of Shepard’s “family quintet,” A Lie of the Mind (1985) symbolizes a major break in Shepard’s career. The play not only addresses the fragmentation that results from domestic violence, gender conflict, and war trauma, but also explores individual repair and family resilience in the transgenerational transmission of trauma. It represents Shepard’s first clear move away from cultural determinism towards a genuine belief in the potential for personal transformation and the re-establishment of familial connections that are essential to building post-traumatic resilience. In light of the theories of transgenerational trauma and family resilience, this essay will examine the vulnerability and positive adaptation of some of the play’s main characters, who experience traumatic events and then develop effective ways to heal and recover. In the case of the play, Shepard criticizes American cultural heritage that is transmitted through successive generations, especially the Anglo-American cultural ideal of the “rugged individualism” and myths of “invulnerability” and “self-sufficiency,” advocating instead a relational view that emphasizes connectedness and interdependence with others.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Repair and Family Resilience in the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind
AU  - Guo Jiabin
Y1  - 2023/08/31
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
SP  - 65
EP  - 71
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.16
AB  - Sam Shepard’s family plays, such as Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, True West, and Fool for Love, are replete with absent fathers, haunted sons, and marginalized mothers and daughters, all are linked thematically in their examination of familial disintegration in a fractured society. As the conclusion of Shepard’s “family quintet,” A Lie of the Mind (1985) symbolizes a major break in Shepard’s career. The play not only addresses the fragmentation that results from domestic violence, gender conflict, and war trauma, but also explores individual repair and family resilience in the transgenerational transmission of trauma. It represents Shepard’s first clear move away from cultural determinism towards a genuine belief in the potential for personal transformation and the re-establishment of familial connections that are essential to building post-traumatic resilience. In light of the theories of transgenerational trauma and family resilience, this essay will examine the vulnerability and positive adaptation of some of the play’s main characters, who experience traumatic events and then develop effective ways to heal and recover. In the case of the play, Shepard criticizes American cultural heritage that is transmitted through successive generations, especially the Anglo-American cultural ideal of the “rugged individualism” and myths of “invulnerability” and “self-sufficiency,” advocating instead a relational view that emphasizes connectedness and interdependence with others.
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
ER  -

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