Journal of Publishing and Criticism
JPC, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.1-8
Print ISSN: 3107-0892; Online ISSN: 3107-0906
Journal homepage: https://www.jpcjournal.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/jpc260101imrwh
张高魁（Zhang Gaokui），刘胡敏（Liu Humin）
摘要：英国现当代作家海伦·邓莫尔在《谎言》中讲述了主人公丹尼尔从一战战场返乡后，受战争创伤困扰而无法回归正常生活，最终跳崖身亡的故事。小说《谎言》中，“泥土”远非简单的环境背景，而是战争创伤的核心载体与隐喻。本文以创伤理论为框架，通过剖析文本中嗅觉、触觉与视觉三个维度对“泥土”的感官书写，揭示其如何具象化主人公丹尼尔无法言说、无法摆脱的创伤记忆。嗅觉上，泥土的气味如同“触发器”，不断侵入当下，将丹尼尔拖回战友死亡的瞬间；触觉上，泥土的粘附性与沉重感，象征着创伤如影随形，即使通过清洁仪式也无法涤除；视觉上，家乡“生泥土”与战场“泥土”的尖锐对立，加剧了战争亲历者的身份危机与社群疏离。通过多感官叙事，“泥土”意象不仅深刻表征了创伤的持续性、体感性与不可言说性，预示了丹尼尔的悲剧命运，也构建了邓莫尔对战争暴力及其深远后果的文学反思。
关键词：泥土；创伤载体；嗅觉；触觉；视觉
作者简介：张高魁，硕士研究生，广东外语外贸大学英语语言文化学院，主要从事英美文学研究，电邮：zgkcassie@163.com。刘胡敏（通讯作者），教授，博士生导师，广东外语外贸大学英语语言文化学院，主要从事英美文学、创伤文学和希腊罗马神话研究，电邮：200010213@oamail.gdufs.edu.cn。
Abstract: Helen Dunmore, a contemporary British writer, tells the story of Daniel, the protagonist of The Lie, who returns home from the WWI battlefield haunted by war trauma, unable to resume a normal life, and eventually commits suicide by jumping off a cliff. In the
novel, “mud” is far more than a simple environmental backdrop; it serves as the core carrier and metaphor for war trauma. Taking trauma theory as the framework, this paper analyzes the sensory depictions of “mud” from three dimensions—smell, touch and vision—in the text, so as to reveal how it materializes Daniel’s unspeakable and inescapable traumatic memories. Olfactorily, the smell of mud acts as a “trigger” that constantly intrudes into the present and drags Daniel back to the moment of his comrades’ death. Tactilely, the stickiness and heaviness of mud symbolize that trauma lingers like a shadow, which cannot be eliminated even through purification rituals. Visually, the sharp contrast between the “raw mud” of his hometown and the “mud” of the battlefield exacerbates the identity crisis and social alienation of the war survivor. Through multi-sensory narration, the imagery of “mud” not only profoundly represents the persistence, corporeality and ineffability of trauma, foreshadows Daniel’s tragic fate, but also constructs Dunmore’s literary reflection on the violence of war and its far-reaching consequences.
Keywords: Mud; Trauma Carrier; Smell; Touch; Vision
Author Biographies: Zhang Gaokui, postgraduate student, Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, focus on British and American literature, E-mail: zgkcassie@163.com. Liu Humin (Corresponding Author), professor, doctoral supervisor, Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, focus on British and American literature, trauma literature, and Greek and Roman mythology, E-mail: 200010213@oamail.gdufs.edu.cn.
Received: 02 Feb 2026 / Revised: 19 Apr 2026 / Accepted: 29 Apr 2026 / Published online: 30 Apr 2026 / Print published: 30 May 2026.
