"Hey, why don't you just kick me?": : A literary analysis of Nicky Singer’s Feather Boy discussing the representation of trauma and humiliation, and the appropriateness of using the novel in the EFL-classroom

Sammanfattning

This study explores how trauma is depicted in Nicky Singer’s Feather Boy from 2002, through a trauma theoretical lens and a trauma-informed pedagogical approach. Using these frameworks, the aim is to discover how trauma is represented and which coping mechanisms are used by the protagonist. By incorporating humiliation theory, a pathway is charted through the traumatic events to further analyse the effects trauma has on the main character. The analysis demonstrates how past traumatic events have affected the main character, causing him to develop various coping strategies and a mentality of forever being the designated target. In alignment with trauma theory, the final subsection of the analysis reviews the main character’s acts of resistance and resilience, exhibiting his attempts to stand up for himself and recover from his trauma, in order to not portray him as a passive victim. The character’s redemption arc could be beneficial in terms of giving young readers hope for the future. Finally, Trauma-informed pedagogy as a pedagogical framework is applied to the novel to determine its appropriateness in the EFL-classroom. The findings of the pedagogical analysis show that although the novel could be deemed less appropriate in some classrooms, is could also be well-integrated using suitable learning methods, such as socioemotional learning.