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Trauma and Catholicism in Carmen Laforet's Work

Abstract Repressed trauma and psychological fragmentation denote a significant pattern in Carmen Laforet's novels, in which violence 'that threatens the integrity of the body and compromises the sense of mastery that aggregates around western notions of harmonious selfhood' (Henke, 2000: xii) produces 'shattered subjects' (Henke, 2000: xii), such as the protagonists of Nada, El piano, and La mujer nueva (first published in 1945, 1952, and 1955 respectively). But, in contrast with Andrea, who is not allowed to work through her own trauma in the space of the novel, both Rosa and Paulina experience a religious 'revelation': the 'turning point' or catharsis that helps them process their own injuries, understand their own repressed subjectivity in the context of their concrete circumstances, and regain an enabling sense of communion with themselves and the world that surrounds them. In the first section of this paper I discuss the version of Catholicism that the texts by Laforet insinuate. Then I will show how trauma operates as defence mechanism in these three novels and how religious or mystical experiences create conditions conducive to healing in El piano and La mujer nueva.