The Keloids We Heal
Trauma, Spirituality, and Black Modernity in Literature
Women of colors and a literature written in corporeal and spiritual scars
Cloth – $110
978-0-252-04645-2
Paper – $28
978-0-252-08854-4
eBook – $19.95
978-0-252-04776-3
Publication Date
Paperback: 05/13/2025
Cloth: 05/13/2025
Cloth: 05/13/2025
About the Book
The corporeal and spiritual healing in literature by women of colors can be seen to redefine modern thought and printed text. Sarah Soanirina Ohmer traces the impact of colonization and enslavement on Black women and Black women’s contributions to colonial, nineteenth, and twentieth century literature in the US, Brazil, and West Indies. Her analysis unlocks the literature’s power to heal through gut-wrenching descriptions of wounds and thrilling passages of hope and liberation.Drawing on intersectional analysis, Ohmer focuses on portrayals of trauma and spirituality in works by Toni Morrison, Conceição Evaristo, Maryse Condé, Gloria Anzaldúa, the Quilombhoje poets, and María de los Reyes Castillo. Ohmer compares literature from different countries along four thematic pathways: ghosts, mirrors, naming, and motherhood. Her analysis unlocks the literature’s power to heal through gut-wrenching descriptions of wounds and thrilling passages of hope and liberation. Throughout, Ohmer weaves in her life story as a Black woman as she reflects on how colonialism, racism, sexism, and capitalism have impacted her work, traumas, and faith journey.
About the Author
Sarah Soanirina Ohmer is an associate professor of Latin American studies and Africana studies at City University of New York Lehman College.Related Titles
