Trauma and Truth : Teaching Russian Literature on the Chechen Wars

“Contemporary Chechen War Literature: categorically, such a genre may appear daunting or out of reach of the literary critic or student alike. Yet, in Trauma and Truth, Clark gives us a precise and necessary examination of war trauma and its effect on the war stories, the war journalists, and the warriors who directly participated in the Chechen Wars of the late 1990s and early 2000s. In a clear and vivid scholarly voice, Clark performs a close reading of four leading Chechen or Russian authors and their books so that we may understand that trauma—not only in this body of literature, but in post-Soviet culture as a whole—is the dominant force in narrative representations of the wars. This book teaches the casual and careful reader alike that empathy and understanding, as Clark puts it, are the byproduct of such literary study. I can’t conceive of a better way to make sense of, and perhaps even prevent, future war.”