https://ojs.acad-pub.com/index.php/LF/issue/feedLiterature Forum2025-02-19T01:46:52+00:00Emily Wangeditorial-lf@acad-pub.comOpen Journal Systems<p><em>Literature Forum</em> (LF) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on literature and cultural studies. This journal aspires to bring together scholars interested in developing the research of literature, and to provide the most suitable environment for contributions from all the world’s literary traditions. The journal welcomes submissions that can concurrently imagine any literary tradition, moving beyond national frames to simultaneously discuss and develop the cosmopolitan threads of a variety of literary traditions.</p>https://ojs.acad-pub.com/index.php/LF/article/view/2496The embodied mind in the trenches: A neurophenomenological exploration of sensory experience, trauma, and the battlefield in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”2025-02-19T01:46:52+00:00Hamed Jamalpourhamed.jamalpour@umontreal.caZahra Jamalpourhamed.jamalpour@umontreal.caManzar Feizhamed.jamalpour@umontreal.ca<p>Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” transcends a mere war narrative. It delves into the profound assault on the human psyche and body experienced by soldiers grappling with combat horrors. This paper argues that a neurophenomenological framework offers a crucial lens for understanding these experiences, particularly their embodied responses to sensory overload and the enduring impact of trauma. Neurophenomenology posits that consciousness and the body are intertwined. Perceptions, emotions, and cognitions are rooted in bodily sensations. In Vietnam, soldiers endured a constant barrage of sensory stimuli: deafening artillery, the stench of death, and stifling humidity. These sensory experiences profoundly shaped their perceptions, emotions, and sense of self. “The Things They Carried” vividly illustrates this embodied reality. O’Brien details the soldiers’ physical and psychological burdens: the weight of equipment, the constant fear, and the guilt of witnessing comrades perish. These manifest as physical weight, but also as profound dread, racing heartbeat, trembling hands, and the ever-present threat of nausea. The treacherous terrain—the muddy swamps, the dense jungle—contributes to a profound sense of disorientation and alienation. By examining the soldiers’ experiences through a neurophenomenological framework, this paper aims to demonstrate how the sensory, bodily, and emotional dimensions of war are central to understanding the psychological and emotional impact of combat. “The Things They Carried” serves as a powerful testament to the enduring power of embodied experience, highlighting the profound and lasting impact of war on the human psyche and body.</p>2025-02-19T01:46:51+00:00Copyright (c) 2025 Author(s)