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Title SOMATIC RELATIONALITY AND DISPLACEMENT: A PERFORMATIVIST STUDY OF SUBJECTHOOD IN GLOBAL SOUTH PARTCULTURAL MEMOIRS

Author(s) Mr. Muhammad Hamza

Abstract Invoking somatic relationality and displacement as theoretical lenses, this study aims to investigate the performative role of subject in three global south partcultural memoirs. The subjects in I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti, One Bright Moon by Andrew Kwong, and Wrestling with the Devil by Ngugi wa Thiong’o revitalize their autobiographical consciousness for the articulation of their true story of life. Somatic relationality premises on the integration of memories, consciousness and the human mind. Being partcultural in nature, these memoirs have been produced in less porous cultures. In all three memoirs, the narrating ‘I’ asymmetrically moves in various cultures experiencing displacement. The study proposes, that by resisting oppression of the determinative forces, the subjecthood seems to explore a well-established link of body, brain, self, and narrative with memories of life in these stories. Simultaneously, these memoirs seem to produce a resistant discourse against dominant determinative forces, alternatively called social relationality. This research is qualitative and exploratory in nature and uses Mary Evans’ autobiography as a research method, while the theoretical underpinnings of Paul John Eakin’s concept of somatic relationality and Bhabha’s notion of displacement are employed to investigate the performative role of the subject in global south partcultural memoirs. This study explores new horizons in the field of life narrative studies, largely unexplored in Pakistani universities, and is likely to contribute to the production of knowledge.

Type Thesis/Dissertation

Faculty Languages

Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2025-08-27

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