2013/09/02 by Mira Debs · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #South Asian Studies and Conflicts #Anthropological Studies and Insights #South Asian Studies and Diaspora #Narrative #Nationalism #Ideology #Sociology #Independence (probability theory) #Partition (number theory) #Gender studies #Political science #Law #Art #Literature #Politics
paper · doi:10.1111/nana.12038
openalex publication_date 2013/09/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract Nationalism theorists have noted the link between traumatic events and national identity, and cultural trauma theory presents a framework for understanding how these events become trauma narratives. I argue for greater consideration of how these narratives are strategically linked to ideological frames of national identity. A case study of post‐ I ndependence I ndia considering the assassination of M ahatma G andhi and the P artition of I ndia and P akistan demonstrates how two very different events were promoted as cultural traumas by various carrier groups in order to promote a secular vision of the Indian nation. Adapting A rmstrong and C rage (2006), I suggest that the success of these trauma narratives depend on several criteria: the ease of narrating the event, how it is linked to underlying cultural meanings/frames and how the event interacts with historical contingencies.