Staged Representation of Indian Residential School’s Trauma in both Harrison’s Stolen and Loring’s Where the Blood Mixes

Ahmed, Nourhan Ali Mahmoud; Sorour, Wafaa Hamdy Hassan; Abady, Amal Mohamed Hassan

doi:10.21608/qarts.2025.364920.2176

Staged Representation of Indian Residential School’s Trauma in both Harrison’s Stolen and Loring’s Where the Blood Mixes

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Graduate Student, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, South Valley University

² Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, South Valley University

10.21608/qarts.2025.364920.2176

Abstract

The history of Indigenous peoples has recently been the focus of numerous academic studies. These studies highlight the various challenges they face, including racism, discrimination, violence, human rights violations, and the destruction of culture. They have spread across different countries such as Africa, North America, Canada and Australia. Indigenous communities have faced a prolonged era of colonialism which has had a disruptive effect on their social structures, and cultures. The advent of white settlers, seeking to occupy Indigenous lands and destroy their cultures, has had a devastating impact on Indigenous populations. The paper examines the severe impacts of the European practices on both countries such as assimilation and racism. Substantially, this article studies the impact of Indian Residential schools in both Australia and Canada by examining Jane Harrison’s Stolen (2014) and Kevin Loring’s Where the Blood Mixes (2009). The study also analyzes the aspects of the Stolen generations in Australia and the forcible removal era in Canada. This study will adopt trauma theory as a critical lens to examine two dramatic works: Stolen by Jane Harrison, and Where the Blood Mixes by Kevin Loring. It also aims at proving how trauma became inheritance in the life of Indigenous populations. Furthermore, the study shows how the two playwrights utilize the past experiences and memory of pain to clarify the present acceptance and challenge. Ultimately, this study highlights the role of theatre in exposing the ongoing consequences of the assimilation policy as well as providing a voice to the survivors.

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