Focalising trauma narrative : An analysis of Konigsberg’s The Music of What Happens and its pedagogical use

Abstract: This essay argues that Bill Konigsberg depicts the traumatic experience of being raped and the inner conflict of being a male rape survivor with harsh immediacy by implementing internal focalisation in his young adult novel The Music of What Happens (2019). Additionally, the essay argues that the novel is a useful teaching resource in the Swedish EFL classroom by discussing the pedagogical implementations. This essay conducts an analysis from a trauma theory perspective, allowing a closer scrutiny of how the protagonist is affected by trauma. Lastly, it is concluded that although broaching sexualized trauma in the EFL classroom can be triggering, the novel can in fact vicariously represent students who have undergone traumatic events and therefore validate their feelings.