Trauma of 9/11 envisaged through transmedial memory in Red Birds and the Blind Man’s Garden

Abstract

Narratives of trauma craft its meanings from silences and psyche of affected individuals through written notes of fiction. Pakistani fiction delves into trauma studies to explore shared experiences of massive violence and identity crisis due to colonial experiences amidst socio-political upheavals. These narratives reflect the psychological wounds borne by collective units of society. Researchers have analyzed not only horrific realities of partition but also analyzed issues of the contemporary era such as political chaos, postcoloniality and ideological racism, orientalist discourse and terrorism. The research aims to analyze the narratives of Muhammad Hanif’s Red Birds (2018) and Nadeem Aslam’s The Blind Man’s Garden (2013) to explore the haunting realities of war on terror faced in Eastern Muslim communities after 9/11 historical event recorded in American history. The quest is to inquire a disrupted geopolitical system that is accountable to disseminate trauma due to 9/11 through transmedial memory. The fragmented storyline highlights the psychologically damaged characters as evident in war-torn linguistic output and the catastrophic dilemma that shatters an individual’s defense mechanism to cope with the disaster. Transmedial memory exhibiting trauma of 9/11 attacks within the selected texts and in historical stance is examined. Findings reveal that in Pakistani literature, trauma is marked in the East due to aftermath of 9/11 and war on terror. Trauma has crossed cultural, social and national borders while demonstrating its impact on Eastern and Western borders. This grief, impacting Eastern and Western hemispheres, is represented through media representations. Thus, trauma is demonstrated through literary representations to register contextualized cultural wounds that offer a scope for therapeutic cure via resilience and reflection.