Mothers and Daughters, Trauma and Textile in Phyllis Alesia Perry’s Stigmata

ABSTRACT: This paper considers Phyllis Alesia Perry’s use of art therapy as a modality of healing in Stigmata , a novel that examines intergenerational trauma resulting from the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The protagonist, Lizzie, is not merely beset with visions of her foremothers’ pain but shares consciousness with her grandmother and great-great-grandmother. As a result of episodes in which Lizzie experiences the trauma of her ancestors’ lives, she is tormented, both in body and spirit. Her brutalized body bears witness to the wounds of history that have yet to be healed. This essay examines the neurobiology of trauma and the therapeutic value of expressive arts. Seminal psychotherapeutic theorists have long highlighted the importance of artistic endeavors in therapeutic treatment. In Perry’s novel, conventional psychiatric interventions have limited benefits; it is Lizzie’s engagement in textile art that begins her journey to healing. Through quilting, Lizzie represents a maternal history and transmogrifies pain into art, trauma into narrative.