REPRESENTING THE UNREPRESENTABLE: TRAUMA, SILENCE AND GUILT IN MUSLIM WAR NOVELS

Abstract

This qualitative study examines the silence resulting from war trauma and the issues of representation of trauma, as portrayed in literary works, with particular focus on novels, Curfewed Night (2008) by Basharat Peer and Born under a Million Shadows (2009) by Andrea Busfield, highlighting the relationship between experience, memory and representation in structuring the understanding of trauma. The study addresses the gap between traumatic experience of war and the silencing of the survivors, which augment their suffering. Analyzing  the characters in the selected novels, the research pins down as to how traumatic experiences cater silence, impeding the survivors to narrativize their stories. Considering the struggles of various characters along with those of the author- figure, Peer, in Curfewed Night, and examining the traumatic silence and ongoing suffering of Fawad and his mother in Born under a Million Shadows, the study seeks for possibilities of resilience in face of harrowing experiences of war and conflicts. Moreover, the study touches upon the wider implications of silence such as loss of connections and community life and challenges of articulation in both novels written in Kashmiri and Afghan contexts respectively. Furthermore, it also discusses the cyclic nature of trauma and suffering caused by recurring violence, further exacerbating the situation in these regions.