Reconstructing Identity and Navigating Trauma: A Posthumanist Reading of Jasmine Warga’s The Shape of Thunder

Abstract

Jasmine Warga’s The Shape of Thunder offers a profound exploration of trauma, identity, and human interconnectivity, making it a compelling subject for posthumanist analysis. The novel challenges traditional humanist assumptions, particularly the notion of a stable, autonomous self, by illustrating how grief, loss, and memory destabilize identity. Through the experiences of its protagonists, Cora and Quinn, Warga demonstrates that selfhood is not an isolated construct but a fluid and evolving entity shaped by personal loss, collective trauma, and nonhuman forces. The narrative underscores how human existence is deeply entangled with elements beyond individual agency, including technology, nature, and speculative possibilities. This study argues that Warga deconstructs anthropocentric perspectives by presenting time travel not merely as a fantastical narrative device but as a metaphor for the cyclical nature of trauma and the fluidity of reality. Quinn and Cora’s fixation on reconstructing the past through scientific theories of time travel exemplifies how grief disrupts conventional perceptions of time and selfhood. Their engagement with speculative imagination serves as a coping mechanism, allowing them to process loss in ways that transcend traditional humanist frameworks, which often emphasize linear recovery and the restoration of a singular, coherent self. Instead, Warga portrays healing as a nonlinear and relational process, where identity is continuously reshaped through interactions with the nonhuman world, whether through memory, scientific inquiry, or imagined futures. By situating The Shape of Thunder within a posthumanist framework, this study highlights how the novel redefines trauma and selfhood in a world where reality is fragmented and interconnected. Warga’s portrayal of loss as both a personal and societal construct reinforces the necessity of rethinking identity beyond individualistic perspectives. Quinn and Cora’s experiences illustrate that trauma is not a solitary burden but a shared reality that demands new ways of understanding agency, resilience, and ethical responsibility. Their journey challenges conventional ideas of blame and justice, urging a reconsideration of ethical relationships in a world where actions and consequences are deeply intertwined. This study contributes to broader literary discussions by demonstrating how The Shape of Thunder dismantles rigid binaries between self and other, past and present, and human and nonhuman. By integrating posthumanist thought, Warga’s novel presents a radical vision of coexistence, where identity is no longer static but dynamically reshaped by memory, imagination, and external influences. The novel’s thematic complexity and its challenge to traditional humanist narratives position it as a significant text for examining the intersections of trauma, identity, and posthumanism in contemporary literature. Ultimately, The Shape of Thunder offers a transformative perspective on grief and healing, emphasizing that recovery is not about returning to a pre-trauma state but about embracing new ways of existing within a constantly shifting and interconnected world.