Stories at a Site of Fratricidal Violence: Cultural Memory and Trauma in Arupa Patangia Kalitaâs âBir Daimalur Sadhuâ

Jayashree Borah

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Chapter 14 Stories at a Site of Fratricidal Violence: Cultural Memory and Trauma in Arupa Patangia Kalitaâs âBir Daimalur Sadhuâ

In: Memory Studies in India

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Jayashree Borah

Jayashree Borah
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 233â249

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004722514_016

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Abstract

In this essay, I examine the role of both personal and cultural memory in the negotiation of trauma through a close reading of a novella written in Assamese, titled âBir Daimalur Sadhuâ (âThe Saga of the Heroic Daimaluâ, 2008) by Arupa Patangia Kalita. The story is set against a backdrop of fratricidal killings among the Bodo (an indigenous ethnic group in Assam) rival factions. The essay looks at how this novella explores the idea of revisiting the cultural memory or myths, folk stories and indigenous belief systems of the community, for healing in times of conflict and crisis, and to expose the arbitrariness of the rifts that develop between groups. Individual memories of the shared past may, however, contest each other, revealing thereby the constructed and selective nature of memory. The story navigates the dynamics of memory, the need to resist trauma-induced amnesia about the positive stories of the past, and suppress or forget the negative ones that are demoralizing and delay healing. Furthermore, the text itself may be read as an artifact of counter-memory that challenges the dominant narratives of divisiveness that have come to characterize the community.

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Memory Studies in India

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Series:Â Mobilizing Memories, Volume: 5

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004722514

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 21 Apr 2025

Subjects
- Asian Studies
  - South Asia
- Literature and Cultural Studies

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Chapter 14 Stories at a Site of Fratricidal Violence: Cultural Memory and Trauma in Arupa Patangia Kalitaâs âBir Daimalur Sadhuâ

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Chapter 14 Stories at a Site of Fratricidal Violence: Cultural Memory and Trauma in Arupa Patangia Kalitaâs âBir Daimalur Sadhuâ