Verwonding, verwoording en verwerking : ʼn beskouing van Henning J. Pieterse se kortverhaalbundel Omdat ons alles is vanuit ʼn terapeutiese perspektief

[摘要] When reading Henning J. Pieterse's work the reader is confronted by asombre central theme, that of loss. Loss manifests itself in different ways inhis oeuvre, but the most notable forms of loss are as result of the ending of alove affair or death. A second noticeable theme in Pieterse's work is art andartistry, specifically the creative writing process.In my opinion these themes are most evident in his 1998 collection of shortstories Omdat ons alles is (Because we are everything). The main premise inthis collection of short stories is the suicide of the beloved wife and theaccompanying feelings of loss and grief. The male characters in these storiesstruggle with processing and accepting loss - loss due the suicide of abeloved wife or due to the ending of a relationship. Various attempts aremade to forget the loss and to numb the pain. The characters turn to alcohol,drugs and sex as ways of trying to work through or process the loss, but thesemethods only bring temporary relief. These self-destructive methods opescapism are contrasted with the constructive act of writing. At the same timethe journey to psychic recovery and the processing of trauma becomes acreative journey. By expressing trauma through writing about woundingexperiences there is striven to process it. The processing of trauma by meansof literary narratives is often extremely exhausting and distressing. In the actof writing about trauma, painful memories that are repressed in the psycheare brought to the surface.In this thesis Omdat ons alles is is viewed from a therapeutic perspective toestablish whether the act of writing plays a part in the processing of trauma.Narrative therapy is concerned with the finding of words and language tocommunicate trauma by creating a story in which the meaning and coherencethat trauma destroys, can be recaptured. Trauma destroys the meaning andcoherence of a life story and leaves the individual powerless and confused,but by finding words to communicate trauma, there is a positive movement inthe direction of dealing with and accepting loss. In Omdat ons alles is Pietersemaps the journey of working through loss and trauma, but in these stories it isalso emphasised that this journey is by no means a joyride. In the end itseems that the act of writing does play a part in the processing of trauma, butto which extent, remains an open question.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University