Disrupted Selves and Displaced Histories: A Study of Trauma in Indian Literary Texts

Abstract

Trauma, as a multifaceted phenomenon, intersects psychology, culture, and history, and its literary articulation provides a powerful framework for understanding individual and collective suffering. In Indian literary discourse, trauma emerges not only as psychological aftermath but as a cultural memory transmitted across generations, shaped by socio- political upheavals like Partition, caste violence, communal riots, and gendered subjugation. The present paper explores trauma through the theoretical frameworks of Cathy Caruth, Dominick LaCapra, and Marianne Hirsch, focusing on how Indian literature gives voice to silenced histories and fragmented identities through the study of literary texts, such as, Saadat Hasan Manto's “Toba Tek Singh”, Bhisham Sahni's Tamas, Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan, Bama's Karukku, Mahasweta Devi's “Draupadi,” Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness and Amitav Ghosh's The Shadow Lines.