Résumé:
This study examines the interwoven complexities of memory and trauma in Aminatta Forna’s
The Memory of Love (2010). This relationship is deemed obscure and complex, since only
through memory can trauma be truly revived. Drawing on the theories of Western theorists
such as Sigmund Freud, Cathy Caruth as well as Marianne Hirsh, the thesis examines the
complex relationship between memory and trauma and the processes through which the
memory of trauma is repressed, transmitted, and transformed. The relationship between
memory and trauma has long been viewed from a Eurocentric perspective. However, in recent
years, African writers have focused extensively on portraying memory and trauma in
postcolonial contexts, demonstrating the long-lasting impact of traumatic events such as civil
wars in their literary works. Accordingly, the study employs ideas of leading postcolonial
scholars such as Stef Craps and Irene Visser to demonstrate a nuanced representation of
memory and trauma in the African writer Aminatta Forna’s The Memory of Love, in the
aftermath of the Sierra Leone civil war. Shedding light on the role of Forna as a postrememberer, the study also shows that memory is an expression of these events; a process that
entails transformation and creativity. In addition, the study demonstrates the complex nature
of the memory of trauma and its recurrence in the characters’ lives at the individual level. It
also deals with the concepts of collective trauma and collective memory to demonstrate the
manifestation of trauma at the collective level. Thus, based on the analysis of the novel’s
thematic concerns such as, silence, healing, and emotional belonging, the dissertation presents
a postcolonial perspective in understanding memory, trauma, and healing.
