The Woes of Slavery: Enslaved Women’s Traumatic Journey in Homegoing

Abstract

This paper examines the traumatic journey of enslaved women by analysing the oppression and anguish they are subjected to through the lens of trauma theory in Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing (2016). The paper argues that the trauma that enslaved women encountered in Gyasi’s Homegoing takes the form of rape, dehumanisation and deprivation, which were practices rooted in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.