Collective Amnesia and Generational Memory in Kamila Shamsie’s Kartography

Abstract

The war of 1971 has been widely represented in all forms of media in Bangladesh. However, Pakistani literature offers a stark contrast, as references to the war are sparse. The representation of the war in Pakistani official discourse is also understandably contradictory to that of Bangladesh. Kamila Shamsie’s Kartography (2001) is one of the few Pakistani novels setting the 1971 war as its backdrop. This article attempts to understand the role of literary narratives to offer a perspective which diverges from the nationalist public narrative. It endeavours to locate the novel in a world of proliferating international apologies for historical misdeeds. It delineates the cyclical nature of violence and hatred as demonstrated in the novel by drawing connections between various historical events and their memories, as it attempts to understand how the relationship between personal and political shapes individual and national identity. This article demonstrates through a close reading of the novel how narratives are used to forge collective amnesia and collective denial of responsibility, interrogating generational guilt and national self-examination as illustrated in Kartography.