Alexithymia of Postcolonial Literatures: The Transylvanian Case
Alexithymia of Postcolonial Literatures: The Transylvanian Case

Summary/Abstract: In this article, the starting point is the observation that an analysis of colonial emotions in the various types of internal colonies in Europe, such as Ireland, Wallonia, Corsica, Catalonia, Ukraine, and Transylvania, is absolutely necessary, as it reveals a different type of reaction than in the case of external colonies. These are determined by the proximity between the center and the colony, by intense cultural homogenization, and, above all, by the illusions of equality generated by powerful colonial propaganda. Most of the time, the emotions of the colonized are impossible to express, due to the limits of identification and language. In behaviorist psychology, this deficit of emotional expression has been defined as alexithymia. We will thus analyze how the contemporary Transylvanian novel reacts to colonial history through an alexithymic emotional blockage. The analysis focuses on two binary pillars of colonial studies: the perception of location and otherness. Such an analysis is relevant because it reflects the extreme emotional tension to which the literatures of the colonized were subjected, exposed to homogenization, extinction, delocalization, and fear of otherness.

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