Neuroscientific discourse in Madeleine Thien's "Dogs at the perimeter"

Abstract

The present thesis analyses the function of neuroscientific discourse in Madeleine Thien’s novel Dogs at the Perimeter. The aim of the thesis is to explore the role and importance of neuroscientific descriptions and medical stories in the novel with regard to diasporic historical trauma and its workings, and diasporic historical trauma attending and coping mechanisms. The analysis is done through the examination of the similarities between diasporic historical trauma and structural trauma, meaning brain damage or brain lesions, on the example of the neuroscientific discourse presented in the novel. The present thesis consists of four parts: the introduction, two core chapters and the conclusion. The introduction highlights the general importance of the literary work in the light of the European migration crisis and waves of Syrian migration to Canada in addition to context-specific trauma attending. Furthermore, it gives an overview of Thien’s novel and discusses some of its aspects that are necessary for the analysis of the main character’s trauma.