Associate Professor  Farzaneh  Haratyan
School of English, Jilin International Studies University JISU,  China

Title: The Restorative Syntax: Narrative Poetry as a Mechanism for Emotional Regulation

Abstract:

This keynote repositions narrative poetry as a vital discursive technology for emotional regulation, specifically in the aftermath of psychological trauma. Moving beyond aesthetic appreciation, the analysis employs Qualitative Discourse Analysis to dissect how poetry’s unique linguistic architecture—its metaphors, rhythms, temporal shifts, and direct address—functions as a precise mechanism for cognitive and somatic mastery. The talk argues that trauma creates a crisis of narrative, rendering experience fragmented and unspeakable. Poetry answers this crisis by providing a structured yet flexible “third space” where these fragments can be safely reassembled. Through its formal constraints and symbolic language, poetry enables cognitive reappraisal, allowing painful material to be examined from a new perspective. Its rhythmic patterns mimic and guide somatic regulation, calming a dysregulated nervous system. By manipulating time and voice, it restores a sense of agency, transforming the individual from a passive victim of the past into an active author of the present. Ultimately, the act of poetic composition is framed not as mere expression, but as an active, integrative process of healing. It is where the silenced self finds a syntax for the unspeakable, converting passive suffering into crafted testimony and restoring a coherent, narrated identity.

Keywords: Narrative Poetry, Emotional Regulation, Trauma, Discourse Analysis, Cognitive Reappraisal, Somatic Integration, Poetic Form

Biography: