NARRATING CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND THE EMERGENCE OF VOICE IN LEARNING TO TALK BY HILARY MANTEL

Name of Author : K. Thirisha, E. Mahalakshmi

Abstract: This article explores the representation of childhood trauma and the gradual formation of narrative voice in Hilary Mantels autobiographical essay Learning to talk. The essay recounts Mantels early experiences of chronic illness, familial tension, and social isolation, presenting childhood as a space marked by silence and misunderstanding rather than innocence. Through a fragmented narrative structure and retrospective reflection, Mantel demonstrates how trauma disrupts language while simultaneously creating the conditions for its necessity. This paper argues that Learning to Talk functions both as a trauma narrative and as a meditation on the ethical power of storytelling. Mantels recovery of voice illustrates how language becomes a tool of resistance, self definition, and survival. The essay ultimately reveals that voice is not naturally given but painfully constructed through memory, suffering, and creative articulation.

Keywords : childhood trauma, narrative voice, illness narrative, silence, memory, autobiography, identity formation

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