Healing and Haunting: Unearthing Racialized Trauma in Gloria Naylor’s Novels within the Framework of Cultural Trauma Theory

Abstract

This article examines the complex interplay of healing and haunting in Gloria Naylor’s fiction by situating her narratives within the framework of cultural trauma theory. It argues that Naylor’s novels do not merely represent individual suffering but instead articulate a collective, racialized trauma rooted in the historical violences of slavery, segregation, and systemic marginalization. Through a close reading of selected novels, the study explores how memory operates as both a site of pain and a medium of resistance, enabling marginalized communities to confront, reinterpret, and potentially heal from inherited wounds. Drawing on key concepts from cultural trauma theory, the paper highlights how trauma is not simply an event but a socially mediated process that reshapes collective identity. Naylor’s narrative strategies—fragmented storytelling, polyvocal narration, and the incorporation of myth and folklore—reflect the disjointed nature of traumatic memory while also creating spaces for communal witnessing. Her characters often inhabit liminal zones where the past intrudes upon the present, producing a haunting that signifies unresolved historical injustices. These hauntings are not merely spectral but symbolic of suppressed histories that demand recognition. At the same time, the article foregrounds the role of healing as an ongoing, communal process rather than a definitive resolution. Acts of storytelling, maternal memory, and community bonding emerge as crucial mechanisms through which characters negotiate trauma. By reclaiming silenced voices and re-inscribing Black experiences into narrative consciousness, Naylor’s fiction challenges dominant historical discourses and asserts the legitimacy of marginalized epistemologies. Ultimately, this study contends that Naylor’s work embodies a dual movement: it excavates the enduring scars of racialized trauma while simultaneously envisioning possibilities for healing through collective memory and cultural affirmation. By bridging literary analysis with cultural trauma theory, the article contributes to a deeper understanding of how African American literature functions as both a repository of historical pain and a transformative space for resilience and renewal.