Abstract:

The present research focuses on exploring the traumatic impacts of violence and coercion on the Kashmiris represented in the memoire Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer. The state of Kashmir has been facing bloodshed since the times of Gulab Singh in 1846 which reached its climax in the second last decade of 20th century. Keeping that in mind, this study endeavours to explore how strategies of violence and coercion adopted by the Indian soldiers are represented in the memoire leading to traumatic memories, damaged self and disconnections. In this regard, a few characters and situations, representing the Kashmiri stance, have been analysed through the multitheoretical framework based on the power theory of Wrong (1995) and the trauma theories of Caruth (1996), Alexander (2012) and Herman (2015). The research claims due importance because it is an addition to the existing Kashmiri scholarship on the one side, and on the other hand, its novel theoretical framework may also provide guidelines to the future researchers interested in Kashmir or Trauma Studies. Globally, it will also be an eye opener for the international NGOs and Human Rights Organizations.

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