A Syntactic Study of Trauma Representation in Paul Tran's All the Flowers Kneeling and Cathy Linh Che's Split
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study conducts a syntactic analysis of trauma representation in Paul Tran’s All the Flowers Kneeling (2022) and Cathy Linh Che’s Split (2014), using Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as its theoretical framework. Focusing on transitivity, passive constructions, agent suppression, and clause compression, the research explores how poetic syntax encodes experiences of sexual violence, intergenerational trauma, and diasporic marginality. Findings reveal that both poets employ grammar not merely as stylistic embellishment but as a deliberate expressive tool: Tran’s syntactic shift from passive to mental and verbal processes mirrors a reclamation of agency, while Che’s fragmentary, agentless constructions embody emotional stasis and cultural silencing. Through SFL, the study uncovers how grammatical choices reflect the psychological logic of trauma—foregrounding the body over the actor, the aftermath over the event, and silence over exposition. The analysis affirms that syntactic form in trauma poetry functions as a narrative of survival, memory, and resistance. By positioning grammar as a site of affective and political meaning, this study contributes to trauma stylistics, intersectional poetics, and the evolving application of linguistic theory in literary criticism.
Authors: Chijioke, Edward (Ph. D), Ugwu, Sabina Ogechukwu, Iloanwusi, Vitalis Chinemerem
Institution: Godfrey Okoye University
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6893566677
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