Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Future of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2024
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Trauma in Faiza Guene’s Discretion (2020)
Dr. Salma Kaouthar Letaief
ABSTRACT:
This article investigates memory and colonial legacy in the writing of the Algerian diasporic writer namely: Faiza Guene’s Discretion (2020). The paper discusses the collective trauma of the French colonial violence in Algeria and its perpetual legacy overseas. The novel traces historical events starting from before the eruption Algerian revolution up to present day. It chronicles the experience of displacement of the Taleb family to an alien territory (France) because of war. This experience compels their journey with issues related to memory, identity crisis, alienation, racism, and in-betweeness. The focus in this paper is, thus, on the experiences of both the first-generation immigrants and their second-generation descendants. The characters, particularly the second generation, struggle with the weight of societal expectations, discrimination, and the complexities of belonging to a country that is both home and a site of persistent otherness. The narrative unravels layers of generational trauma, shedding light on the psychological and emotional toll of being caught between the cultural heritage of their parents and the demands of a society that often marginalizes them. In so doing, the article will explore the intricate ways in which the characters navigate a society marked by systemic inequalities, cultural clashes, and the enduring consequences of colonialism. The theories Multiculturalism and Psychoanalysis are used to analyse the novels in this paper. While Multiculturalism examines how characters negotiate and navigate their identities in multicultural settings, Psychoanalysis enables the analysis of how characters in diasporic novels grapple with issues of identity, belonging, and self-discovery. Hence, interweaving multiculturalism and psychoanalysis provides an interdisciplinary framework that addresses both the socio-cultural and psychological aspects of the diasporic experience.
keywords: Algerian diasporic writer; colonial legacy; memory; diaspora; displacement; immigrants; identity crisis; trauma