PATTERNS OF FAMILY TRAUMA IN AGNETA PLEJEL’S NOVEL “WINTER IN STOCKHOLM”

Abstract

Summary. In her novel “Winter in Stockholm”, Agneta Plejel depicts the female protagonist’s attempts to understand the causes of her internal disintegration and problems in personal life. The article aims to identify the patterns of family trauma in the Swedish author’s work and define their role in psychologizing the main character. The methodological foundation of the research is the study of the American psychologist, M. Wolynn, “It didn’t start with you: how inherited family trauma shapes who we are and how to end the cycle”, in which the scientist substantiates the transgenerational nature of traumatic experiences and proposes ways to heal them. Though A. Plejel’s novel “Winter in Stockholm” was translated into Ukrainian and published in 2019, it still remains without due attention from literary critics. Since there is a lack of publications about this works and need to fill the existing gap, we deem the topic of our article relevant. Its scientific novelty can be explained by the fact that A. Plejel’s novel is first analyzed in Ukrainian literary studies as a literary projection of inherited family trauma. Using M. Wolynn’s study as a methodological foundation of the research allowed us to identify the patterns of family trauma in A. Plejei’s novel “Winter in Stockholm”. While performing self-analysis and interpreting her dreams, the protagonist finds out that the emotional break with her mother and merging with her parents’ experiences caused her internal conflicts and problems in relationships with men. The attempts to earn love which she did not receive in her family due to destructive relationships led to excessive responsibility, the desire to satisfy everyone and take all the burden on herself, the state of being overloaded, the fear of losing intimacy, problems with femininity, emotional unavailability, and constant anxiety. The main character realized what was behind her conflicts and accepted her parents after they had reconciled. It helped her recover from her past insults and feel free from old behavioral patterns. The prospects of further research into the novel “Winter in Stockholm” can be seen in studying the protagonist’s figure in the dimensions of gender studies.