Cultural Memory, Identity and Trauma in Halima Bashar’s Tears of the Desert

Abstract

This paper aimed to assess the ways in which cultural memory and trauma have been depicted in Halima Bashar’s memoir- Tears of the Desert. It also attempted to explore how these elements function to form both individual and collective identities. Based on the data collected from the selected memoir, the researcher argued that Halima, as a female survivor of both a cultural practice of circumcision and the civil war in Darfur, has produced a memory of her individual past and the Zaghawa’s (the ethnic group she belongs to) worth remembering. A qualitative research design has been employed and both primary and secondary sources were used. Similarly, two theoretical frameworks-Cultural Memory and New historicism- have been employed. The findings revealed that circumcision and war have been sources of both individual and collective trauma which led to the formation of the author’s identity. The study implies that trauma can shape the course of identity development by disrupting existing identity commitments. Likewise, it impacts the types of memories authors share through their life writing.