Cross-Referencing Historical Traumas and Decentering Eurocentric Narratives: Multidirectional Memory in the Narrative of Feroza

Abstract

The current research investigates the construction of multidirectional memory and reclaiming marginalized histories in Pakistani literature by delving into the lives of selected character from the novel The Begum and the Dastan (2021). Applying Rothberg’s (2009) multidirectional memory framework for the analysis of selected text, this study examines how the narrative cross-reference multiple memories in their narratives, foreground marginalized histories and decenter Eurocentric historical approaches. Furthermore, qualitative methodology has been chosen for the current study to discuss how the selected texts portray multidirectional memory in colonized communities in distinct temporal divides. Through multidirectional memory, the current study tries to understand how personal and collective traumas intertwine, shaping the narratives, action and identities of the characters. Moreover, the study also investigates how both the novels critiques the dominant narratives of the history by amplifying the voices marginalized by the traditional historical narratives. Doing thematic analysis of the texts this study highlights the non-competitive nature of memory in the narrative of the selected character. The study also illustrates how the narrative contribute to post-colonial memory studies by applying Rothberg (2009) theory to Pakistani literature, offering insights to how the silenced past is highlighted in fictions and its creation of empathy in global memory landscape.

Keywords: multidirectional memory, marginalized histories, historical trauma.