decolonized trauma: memory and identity on jhumpa lahiri's the lowland

Trauma is both individual and collective and is considered a persistent framework in literature, but traumatic experiences have been neglected in postcolonial and diasporic literary works. in recent decades, asian american writers have begun to reconstruct fragmented memories and shattered identities through writing as media for bearing witness to trauma. contemporary studies on diasporic literature have emphasized the need for reconstruction and conceptualization of decolonized trauma that not only disrupts deep-rooted western understandings of globalization but also concedes feelings of solidarity and empathy among the literary community. the present study approves an interdisciplinary analytical framework that is a branch of cultural studies examining the representation of trauma in the lowland (2013) by asian american author jhumpa lahiri. this article intends to apply ron eyerman’s collective memory and geoffrey charles alexander's collective identity to argue that the novel portrays postcolonial and diasporic identities known as dynamic identities, which can recover trauma and reconstruct fragmented identities effectively. the findings indicate that the female protagonist gauri, her murdered husband udayan, her daughter bela and her brother-in-law subhash represented as members of the community reveal their individual identities, experiences, and traumatic memories throughout the novel. moreover, this study concluded that a prominent female character, such as the novelist lahiri, creates an influential platform for immigrants and victims to talk about their traumatic experiences, and trauma is transferred to the reader and becomes the collective identity, memory, and trauma. in this way, it creates 'cross-cultural solidarity' which reconstructs a new society.