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Title Cultural Trauma and the question of Sovereignty: A Study of Osama Alomar's The Teeth of the Comb and other Stories

Author(s) Hamas Shahid

Abstract Title: Cultural Trauma and the Question of Sovereignty: A Study of Osama Alomar’s The Teeth of the Comb and Other Stories This research attempts to study the representation of necropolitics and cultural trauma experienced by Syrian civilian characters in the flash fiction collections written by Osama Alomar, a Syrian refugee author. The selected collections of flash fiction include The Teeth of the Comb and Other Stories (2017) and Fullblood Arabian (2017). The satirical, metaphorical, and allegorical narratives presented in both collections have been interpreted to analyze the implications of wide-scale violence, unrest, and instability in Syria in the wake of the Syrian civil war. This research is guided by two theoretical perspectives, including Achille Mbembe’s concept of necropolitics and Jeffrey C. Alexander’s theory of cultural trauma. Both theories are triangulated to show the working of Syrian necropowers in the selected collections; how they exert their sovereignty over Syrian civilians to strengthen their rule over Syria and subdue opposition, which, in turn, leads to cultural trauma at a collective level. The analysis of cultural trauma experienced by Syrian civilian characters is carried out through the exploration of their disrupted collective identity, the breakdown of collective consciousness, the collapse of the broader social fabric of Syria, and the extensive displacement of civilian characters. This research is qualitative in nature and Catherine Belsey’s textual analysis method seems to be the most suitable method to unpack the allegorical narratives full of satire and metaphors. This method is helpful for examining the ramifications of necropolitics and cultural trauma caused by the Syrian civil war on the cultural, social, and political fabric of Syrian society. This research also contributes to the ongoing discussions on necropolitics as a theoretical perspective by making an intervention in Achille Mbembe’s exploration of necropolitics. By drawing attention to the importance of resistance strategies that are adopted by any oppressed factions of society, which I term as ‘the pursuit of a ‘justified resistive autonomy’ that is exhibited by the Syrian civilian characters in the selected collections, my research adds to the discussions of necropolitics.

Type Thesis/Dissertation

Faculty Languages

Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2023-12-19

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