Contextualising The Trauma Of Terrorism, Memory And Grief In Razaq Gbolahan’s The Other Names Of Grief
Sapientia Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Development Studies (SGOJAHDS), Vol 7, No 1.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60951/afrischolar-129Keywords:
Razaq Gbolahan, Boko Haram, Memory, Trauma, Fundamentalism, TerrorismAbstract
Over the years, Nigeria has had a running battle with curbing insecurity, wanton killings and maiming of citizens spearheaded by the fundamentalist religious sects known as Boko Haram and other breakaways extremist groups. The multilateral nature of terrorism which combines violence, devastation, destruction of properties, death, among other injurious and grievous memories has generated a body of creative enterprise by Nigeria writers. These writers succinctly reconstruct the tempo of terrorism, the societal ferment caused by terror, the devastating effects and its indelible repercussions on the citizens. This work therefore examines the intersecting lines of terrorism, memory and grief in Razaq Gbolahan's The Other Names of Grief. The work investigates the creative representations of terrorism and the psychological implications on human psyche by adopting Cathy Caruth’s Trauma theory. The analysis of the poems reveals that terrorism and violence are merchandises of religious extremism and fundamentalism which breeds agony of pains, displacement and devastation. Characters are consistently on the edge as they involuntarily respond to unending dimensions of grief. It concludes that though victims of violence are doubly traumatized as they strive to contend with recurrent memories of attacks, writers continue to seek ways of bring creative works to expose the anguish of terror and to mediate the grief and anguish that victims go through.
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