Main Article Content
Abstract
Slavery was something that left a gaping wound in the slaves. They experienced discrimination, marginalization, and physical abuse. However, the event of slavery and the rebellion against it is a tragedy that can leave scars for slaves and their masters. This research aims to understand the process of trauma and individual memory construction through collective memory experienced by the characters in Alejo Carpentier's The Kingdom of This World. Theories used in this research are the concept of Trauma by Cathy Caruth and Collective Memory by Maurice Halbwach. The objective approach to literary works makes the work the only data source to be analyzed. Data is collected by closely reading the novel and taking words, phrases, and sentences. The results show that there are two traumatized characters, M. Lenormand de Mézy as a master and Ti Noël as a slave. The master is traumatized by his past as an officer. Ti Noël is traumatized because, throughout his life as a human being, he has always been a slave for White and Black people. Meanwhile, collective memory is constructed through song lyrics that become the lament of Negroes. Rituals and statues of white women are also a collective memory that influences individual memory.