Trauma and Identity in Teju Cole’s Novel Open City and Samuel Shimon’s Novel An Iraqi in Paris: A Comparative Study

This paper presents the argument that trauma has a significant impact on the formation of a new resilient identity that relies on survival and success. The paper is divided into two sections. The first section includes the introduction that discusses the relation between trauma and identity in the field of Literary Studies. The introduction also presents the development of trauma and identity which begins in the field of Psychoanalysis and then moves into the field Literary Studies in order to represent and externalize the traumatic experience through literary narratives. The second section discusses the impact of the traumatic experience on the construction of a new resilient identity throughout a comparative analysis of two literary texts; namely Open City  by Tejo Cole and An Iraqi in Paris by Samuel Shimon. The paper ends with a conclusion that answers the question of whether a new resilient identity, that is characterized by survival and success, can be formed under the impact of trauma or not.