TRAUMATIC ELEMENTS OF OPPRESSED BLACK AMERICAN: MICRO-AGGRESSION IN COLSON WHITEHEAD’S THE NICKEL BOYS.

Abstract

The current research deals with the identification of those elements of oppressed black American which leads to trauma.  Micro-aggression as a theoretical frame work is used to analyzed the text of Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys.  Micro-aggression is an exchange of verbal or non-verbal cues to denigrate others in various situations. The three types of micro-aggression are identified in the text and analyzed accordingly. These three types are micro-insult, micro-assault, micro-invalidation. Micro-insult means a verbal comment to the intended victim in such a way as to convey rudeness or harm to black people or people in the minority. A micro-assault means a verbal or nonverbal, disgusting attitude that offends an intended person by negating their identity or conveying rudeness to their heritage, either intentionally or unintentionally. Micro-invalidation that causes psychological harm or negates the feelings or emotions of black people. The researcher analyses these three types of micro-aggression to meet the objectives and answer the targeted questions. The present study is conducted through qualitative method. This study exposes that how micro aggressions are negatively associated with various aspects of psychological harm of black Americans. The three main types of Trauma are also identified in the selected text. First is Acute Trauma which is a result of single incident, second is Chronic Trauma that is a result of repeated domestic violence or some kind of abuse, third type of trauma is Complex Trauma that is the result of several or multiple kind of events even interpersonal in nature.   It is hoped that this study would help to motivate the future researchers to delve the same in another literary text along with its consequential effects by applying various approaches.