International Research Journal of Education and Technology

In order to comprehend the protagonist's journey, this article proposes a concept of Affective Materiality to examine the relationship between psychological trauma and tangible items in Toni Morrison's Home. This research contends that for the disadvantaged individuals in Morrison's story, healing is essentially a material accomplishment, despite the fact that traditional trauma studies frequently highlight the importance of verbal confession and memory in rehabilitation. The analysis shows how traumatic events are stored in tangible objects like the veteran's gun and the unburied bones of the Aulder man turning them into containers of negative emotion by combining emotion Theory and Thing Theory. According to the research, language alone is not enough to resolve the characters' pain since it is somatic and physically grounded. Recovery is instead accomplished via material rituals and physical work, particularly the ceremonial burial of the deceased and the healing practices of quilting. The article's final conclusion is that the characters manually release stored trauma and regain agency by physically altering their surroundings, implying that action on the material world is the most efficient language of restoration in the wake of systematic violence.

Keywords: Trauma Studies, Thing Theory, Material Culture, Healing, Affective Materiality, Toni Morrison, and Home.