Mind and Brain: the Representation of Trauma in Martin Amis's Yellow Dog and Ian McEwan's Saturday

Bentley, NP

Abstract

This chapter explores the contrasting representation of trauma in two contemporary British novels: Martin Amis’ Yellow Dog (2003) and Ian McE-wan’s Saturday (2005). The first part focusses on recent debates with respect to the way traumatic experiences have been represented in contemporary culture, drawing on theories of trauma, traumaculture, the traumatological and wound culture by a number of writers including Cathy Caruth, Roger Luckhurst, Mark Seltzer and Philip Tew. I also examine the relationship between psychological understandings of trauma and approaches associated with the ‘neurological turn’ in recent studies of the mind and brain. The second part of the chapter focuses on Martin Amis’ Yellow Dog and particularly on the way in which trauma caused by violence is shown to produce a desire for revenge and a regression to older models of masculinity. This is discussed primarily with respect to the narrative of Xan Meo, whose regression into predatory, violent and patriarchal forms of masculinity is initiated by the head injury he receives when attacked by thugs who have mistaken his role in the ‘naming’ of a gangland criminal. The third part of the chapter explores McEwan’s representation of traumatic experience in Saturday. The main character, Richard Perowne (a neuroscientist and brain surgeon) and his family are subjected to a violent attack by a character who is suffering from Huntington’s disease. McEwan explores the notion of trauma in terms of the attack itself, but also in the neurological trauma associated with Baxter’s condition. My analysis focuses on the way in which the effects of that attack are played out in the novel in terms of each of the characters’ responses to the ensuing events. While Amis relies primarily on psychological models in his exploration of traumatic experience, McEwan is more interested in the ‘neurological turn’ in his representation of trauma. I also argue, however, that in conflating scientific discourse with metaphorical uses of trauma, both Yellow Dog and Saturday remain problematic texts.

Citation

Bentley, N. (2013). Mind and Brain: the Representation of Trauma in Martin Amis's Yellow Dog and Ian McEwan's Saturday. In J. Peacock, & T. Lustig (Eds.), The Syndrome Syndrome: Disorders and Diseases in Contemporary Literature (115--129). (1). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203067314-8

• Publication Date: 2013
• Deposit Date: May 31, 2023
• Pages: 115--129
• Edition: 1
• Book Title: The Syndrome Syndrome: Disorders and Diseases in Contemporary Literature
• ISBN: 9781138547995
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203067314-8
• Keywords: Biography \& Autobiography
• Publisher URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203067314-8/mind-brain-nick-bentley?context=ubx\&refId=0820521d-5da2-4e78-a5f0-c821f1bd7714