Healing Trauma through Confession in Aristotelian Catharsis: a Discourse Analysis of Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis (1905)

Abstract

This paper looks at the connection between trauma and Aristotelian catharsis through the lens of Oscar Wilde's De Profundis (1905), which is a work of confessional writing. Traditionally, catharsis is derived from tragedy, instead this study suggests that prose confession can also exhibit a purgative effect by facing and expressing emotional pain. Employing trauma theory and standard concepts of catharsis, the analysis indicates that Wilde's text constitutes both a personal reckoning and a literary space for emotional release. De Profundis demonstrates how writing can turn a traumatic experience into an instrument to heal for both the author and the reader through the mimetic and affective power of narrative