Jessica Folio
University of Reunion Island, France
Abstract
This article aims at casting an innovative light on
Stephen King’s The Shining (1977) and its sequel, Doctor Sleep (2013) by
showing how theories of trauma are applicable to the mainstream American
writer’s work. On the stage set up for his readers, King unveils a journey of
traumas but he also lifts up the curtain on the ways to cope with the
consequences of these traumas. Both narratives follow the flawed hero, Danny
Torrance, reveal the shattering experiences lived by the latter as a
five-year-old child in The Shining and the ensuing post traumatic disorders in
Doctor Sleep. The texts not only offer a coalescence of traumas, representing a
journey of repression and haunting but they equally open the way on the
possibility of healing.
Keywords: trauma, repression, regression,
disorders, repetition compulsion, healing
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