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Title "Cultural Trauma and Re-construction of Identity: A Study of Selected Palestinian War Narratives"

Author(s) Ahmad Nafees

Abstract This study investigates the concept of cultural trauma in the selected Palestinian short fiction. It examines ten short stories by different Palestinian writers, including Hanan Habashi’s “L for Life,” Rawan Yaghi’s “Spared,” Sarah Ali’s “The Story of the Land,” Nour Al-Sousi’s “Will I Ever Get Out?” Jehan Alfarra’s “Please Shoot to Kill,” Yousef Aljamal’s “Omar X,” Randa Jarrar’s “Barefoot Bridge,” and Mohammed Suliman’s “We Shall Return,” “One War Day,” and “Bundles.” The analysis of the traumatic experiences of the characters is framed through the theoretical lens of Kai T. Erikson’s concept of collective trauma and Jeffrey C. Alexander’s conceptualization of cultural trauma. In this study, Erikson’s collective trauma works to highlight the trauma of a community. The study analyzes horrendous events of war and examines damaged social bonds that leave a traumatic impact on the consciousness of the community. The analysis of collective trauma in the short stories underscores a rupture of social bonds within the social setting and highlights an erosion of communal ties that the characters experience. This representation of collective trauma, through the suffering of different characters, marks the relation of trauma victim to the wider audience. Building on this foundation, the study further examines how these short stories construct claims of trauma that are mediated through aesthetic realm of cultural trauma. The study argues that the writers of the short stories act as carrier groups who represent the pain of their community. This representation transforms individual and collective suffering into a cultural trauma that resonates beyond the immediate context of the suffering community. The study highlights trauma claims through these narratives, which not only work to identify the sources of suffering of a collectivity but also implore moral responsibility within and beyond the suffering community. This research further underscores that by operating within the aesthetic realm of cultural trauma, these texts contribute to the reconstruction of Palestinian identity.

Type Thesis/Dissertation

Faculty Languages

Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2024-08-13

Subject Literature

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