FROM MUTED SUFFERING TO SUBVERSIVE ARTICULATION: THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF TRAUMA IN THE WORKS OF DESAI AND WALKER

International Journal of Computer Science (IJCS) Published by SK Research Group of Companies (SKRGC)

Abstract

This paper provides a comparative analysis of the epistemologies of trauma and female articulation in the works of Anita Desai and Alice Walker. Operating across vastly different geographical and cultural landscapes the postcolonial Indian bourgeoisie and the African-American experience in the Deep South both authors center their narratives on the psychological architecture of marginalized women navigating deeply patriarchal systems. This study argues that while both Desai and Walker identify the imposition of silence as the primary weapon of patriarchal hegemony, their protagonists diverge radically in their trajectories of articulation. By juxtaposing Desai’s Cry, the Peacock and Walker’s The Color Purple, the paper examines how Desai’s characters often experience a tragic implosion, retreating into madness or destructive silence due to an inability to bridge the communicative chasm with their male counterparts. Conversely, Walker introduces a "Womanist" framework where trauma is actively articulated, externalized, and healed through the subversive acts of epistolary confession and communal sisterhood. Ultimately, this comparative study highlights that the true conquest of trauma is contingent upon the radical reclamation of the female voice.

References

1. Christian, Barbara. Black Feminist Criticism: Perspectives on Black Women Writers.Pergamon Press, 1985. Print.
2. Desai, Anita. Cry, the Peacock. Orient Paperbacks, 1963. Print.
3. Jain, Jasbir. Stairs to the Attic: The Novels of Anita Desai.Printwell Publishers, 1987. Print.
4. Walker, Alice. In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983. Print.
5. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982. Print.
6. Whitehead, Anne. Trauma Fiction. Edinburgh University Press, 2004. Print.

Keywords

Trauma, Epistemologies, Marginalized Women, Communal Sisterhood, Silence.