Memory and Trauma in Aminatta Forna’s The Memory of Love

Abstract

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.