Trauma and Reconciliation: An Interpretation of Intersubjective Mother-Daughter Relationship in Rita Dove's Mother Love

In the poetry collection Mother Love (1995), Rita Frances Dove, the contemporary American Poet Laureate, rewrites the ancient Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone by embedding these two prototypes within the lives of a modern African American mother and daughter, offering a nuanced exploration of the complexities inherent in maternal relationships. Through multiple narrative voices, the collection portrays the psychological pressure and emotional wounds inflicted upon the daughter as a result of the mother’s compromised subjectivity, as well as the estrangement and conflict arising from mutual emotional withdrawal. This thesis, based on trauma theory, interprets the consequences of the absence of intersubjectivity in the mother-daughter relationship in the collection from three dimensions: symptoms of trauma, causes of trauma, and healing of trauma, revealing the importance of the reconstruction of intersubjectivity. As a meaningful social relationship, the mother-daughter relationship holds practical significance in the contemporary context. This poetry collection interweaves myth and reality, endowing the mother-daughter trauma with historical depth, highlighting the critical role of intersubjectivity in fostering relational restoration, and providing the possibility of healing the mother-daughter trauma.