This thesis examines the similarities and differences in the portrayals of trauma in Irish and Polish literature to propose that the works of Zbigniew Herbert, a Polish poet, should be viewed through the postcolonial lens in a similar manner Irish literature is. The first chapter defines and delineates Irish trauma as a continuous and pervading experience that has impacted not only the direct participants of the Great Famine and the English oppression but also the next generations. I analyze Marina Carr’s play By the Bog of Cats and Mary Costello’s novel Academy Street to emphasize how deeply trauma is entrenched in the consciousness of their modern-day characters, and how it still affects their lives. In a similar vein, the Polish chapter scrutinizes the depictions of trauma in Herbert’s three poems “Preliminary Investigation of an Angel,” “Report from the Besieged City,” and “The Envoy of Mr. Cogito” to showcase Polish trauma as a consequence of Poland’s challenging past. Poland’s loss of sovereignty, very much like Ireland’s, impacted Polish national and individual identity. Through a close reading of the works by Marina Carr, Mary Costello, and Zbigniew Herbert, I propose that these authors allude to the myth of the lost Eden to depict the significance of endured trauma as a formative and lingering experience that informs their nations’ and individuals’ consciousness and as such should be classified as postcolonial literature.
