PHENOMENOLOGIES OF PAIN: SOMATIC MEMORY, HAPTIC MEDIATION, AND TEMPORAL DISJUNCTION ON-SCREEN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs171-2202622909Keywords:
somatic memory, trauma, narrative, childhood abuse, haptic cinemaAbstract
This paper examines how childhood trauma is not depicted only in terms of plot and dialogue but also in terms of sensory, embodied, filmic practices. Drawing on case studies of The Tale (2018) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), the argument is informed by Caruth’s trauma theory, van der Kolk’s somatic psychology, Marks’s concept of haptic visuality, and Gilmore’s autobiographical narrative theory. This qualitative critique elucidates how each film converts internalized trauma into commutable sensory experience for the viewer. Each film uncovers trauma that is not directly open to memory but that can be made present through bodily feeling, sensory cues, and non-linear narration. Whereas The Tale employs memory reconstruction as a way of positioning testimonial agency, Perks situates trauma as playing a pivotal role in teenage friendships and as a source of bodily symptoms. The research concludes that film allows trauma to be “felt” via image and sound in a manner that frequently precedes conscious comprehension.
Downloads
References
Ahmed, S. (2004). The cultural politics of emotion. Routledge. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g09x4q
Caruth, C. (1996). Unclaimed experience: Trauma, narrative, and history. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. Pocket Books.
Chbosky, S. (Director). (2012). The perks of being a wallflower [Film]. Summit Entertainment.
Fox, J. (Director). (2018). The tale [Film]. HBO Films.
Gilmore, L. (2001). The limits of autobiography: Trauma and testimony. Cornell University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv3s8p46
Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence—from domestic abuse to political terror. Basic Books.
Marks, L. U. (2000). The skin of the film: Intercultural cinema, embodiment, and the senses. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1198x4c
Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W. W. Norton.
Sobchack, V. (1992). The address of the eye: A phenomenology of film experience. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvzsmfbq
van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Mehvish Nawreen; Irshad Ahmad Itoo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors contributing to the International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies agree to release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported license. This licence allows anyone to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given, and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are made clear.
Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the journal right of first publication.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Rights Granted After Publication
After publication, authors may reuse portions or the full article without obtaining formal permission for inclusion within their thesis or dissertation.
Permission for these reuses is granted on the following conditions:
- that full acknowledgement is made of the original publication stating the specific material reused [pages, figure numbers, etc.], [Title] by/edited by [Author/editor], [year of publication], reproduced by permission of International Journal of Child, Youth & Family Studies [link to IJCYFS website];
- In the case of joint-authored works, it is the responsibility of the author to obtain permission from co-authors for the work to be reuse/republished;
- that reuse on personal websites and institutional or subject-based repositories includes a link to the work as published in the International Journal of Child, Youth & Family Studies; and that the material is not distributed under any kind of Open Access style licences (e.g. Creative Commons) which may affect the Licence between the author and IJCYFS.
