Manifestation of Trauma: A Study of Atiq Rahimi’s The Patience Stone

Abstract

Soviet-Afghan conflict (1978-89) is one of the deadliest conflicts of the contemporary world. It started when the Soviet Union took over Afghan government and came in direct conflict with the Afghani people and mujahedeen (rebels). As there was already political instability in Afghanistan, Soviet invasion caused more turmoil and resulted in total anarchy. Even after Soviet departure, there came no solution to the conflict and mujahedeen groups started fighting among themselves. This paper attempts to study the trauma of women in the above said conflict through the contemporary Afghani-French novelist Atiq Rahimi’s Prix Goncourt winner novel The Patience Stone (2008). It aims to bring forth the trauma and its manifestation in two major characters i.e., the unnamed protagonist and the minor character the mad woman who stand symbolic for the women of Afghanistan who were caught amidst the cataclysm of war, domestic violence, religion and patriarchy. This paper uses prism of ideas expressed by prominent trauma critics like Dominick LaCapra in his book Writing History, Writing Trauma (2001) and Cathy Caruth in Unclaimed Experiences (1996) to critically analyse the text.