DECOLONIZING NARRATIVE AND HEALING TRAUMA IN LESLIE MARMON SILKO’S CEREMONY: A POSTCOLONIAL STUDY OF INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE AND IDENTITY FORMATION

Abstract

This research critically analyze the Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony through the lens of postcolonial theory, to discuss the interrelated issues of decolonizing narrative, Indigenous identity and trauma healing. The study employs a qualitative interpretive approach through detailed textual analysis of the novel and contemporary sources in Indigenous studies, trauma theory and postcolonial criticism. The research suggests that Ceremony subverts dominant Western narrative forms by privileging Indigenous modes of storytelling, circular temporalities, and ceremonial modes of knowing as alternative modes of narrative. It also shows that trauma in the novel is not merely an individual psychological condition but is also historical, collective, and relates to colonial experiences, war, and cultural marginalisation. Silko uses the character of Tayo to demonstrate a healing process that is not clinical, sequential, or individual but spiritual, collective and land-centred, stressing the importance of reconnecting with Indigenous cosmology and memory. This research shows that storytelling is a decolonizing practice that reinvigorates fragmented identities and reestablishes cultural connections. Finally, the research also shows how Silko’s narrative challenges colonial knowledge practices by reframing notions of identity, time and healing from Indigenous perspectives. Finally, this study concludes that Ceremony is a literary and cultural resistance strategy that provides a transformative vision, in which story becomes a site of resistance, survival, healing and Indigenous sovereignty