PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA IN WORLD WAR II LITERATURE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF JOSEPH HELLER AND GRAHAM GREENE
Keywords:
psychological trauma, World War II literature, trauma narrative, Joseph Heller, Graham Greene, absurdism, psychological realism, existential dread, moralinjury.Abstract
World War II remains one of the most devastating historical events, profoundly reshaping the psychological landscape of the twentieth century. This article explores the poetics of trauma in contemporary American and British literature, focusing specifically on the depiction of World War II through the seminal works of Joseph Heller (Catch-22) and Graham Greene (The Ministry of Fear and The Heart of the Matter). By analyzing these texts, the study examines how literary narratives reflect the emotional fragmentation, moral injury, and existential dread experienced by individuals caught in the machinery of total war. Special attention is given to the narrative techniques such as dark humor, absurdism, fragmented structure, and psychological realism employed by these authors to convey the unutterable reality of combat and domestic anxiety. Ultimately, the article demonstrates how American and British wartime fiction shifts from traditional heroism to a complex representation of psychological trauma and moral dislocation.
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