KHALED HOSSEINI’S A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS: INTERSECTIONS OF HISTORY, MEMORY AND CULTURE

Abstract

Memory studies as an interdisciplinary approach uses memory as a tool for remembering the traumatic experiences. Khaled Hosseini’s text A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) narrates the events of the past by combining history, culture and politics in the South Asian context and it also explains about the gender and religion in particular the lives of women under Islamic regime. The novel is set in the historical era of Afghanistan during soviet invasion and until the Taliban occupation. The theme revolves around the struggles and challenges of the people at times of war and invasion. Through the protagonists’ Mariam and Lalia’s struggle against the patriarchal clutches, Khaled Hosseini symbolizes Afghan people’s desire for independence. Mariam and Lalia undergo cultural trauma, the former traumatizes due to the internal displacement and by the vigorous imposition of religious practices, and the latter suffers from trauma through the forceful external migration and also by the memories of homeland. Khaled Hosseini as a diaspora writer describes the ancient history and cultural practices of Afghanistan. This shows his individual and cultural memory towards his native land. The research argument takes into account the intersection of trauma and memory in the interpretation of the literary text as it represents the interrelated and complimentary fields of study since 1990s. Trauma is considered as the act of remembering, thus this paper tends to highlight the traumatic histories embedded in the culture of oppression.