Surrogating Silences: Reading Trauma in Temsula Ao’s These Hills Called Home: Stories from a War Zone

Abstract

Aim: The Northeast is one of the most contentious regions in India, which has witnessed unprecedented violence and conflict, causing atrocities against people, especially women. Despite the six-decade-long violence against women in the form of molestation, sexual harassment, and rape, little literary attention has been paid, which the paper aims to foreground.

Methodology and Approach: The paper will employ a qualitative approach to provide a descriptive analysis of the selected text through the lens of Trauma Studies.

Outcome: The study will provide a robust understanding of Trauma through the women’s perspective, which has not been a part of academic discourse so far. The female experiences of trauma can be different from the male experiences, which have been deliberately undermined, so that the paper will bring out such marginalised voices. 

Conclusion and Suggestions: The study will reiterate the voices of women from the margins, as expressed through the writings of Temsula Ao, which have, for decades, survived the pangs of silencing and erasure.