Narrating the Indescribable: Psycho-Traumatic Persona of "the Woman" in Rahimi’s "The Patience Stone"

Abstract

The paper critiques Rahimi’s novel with reference to the representation of the traumatic experiences of the protagonist. Conversing with relevant postulates of trauma theory, the researchers have identified different dimensions of the excruciating encounters and, also, their ramifications. With the purpose to look for traces of both collective and individual trauma in the novel, the article negotiates the portrayal of the female character to expose multiple layers of the agony triggered by the sense of being victimized unjustly. The mere depiction of trauma is the problem with most literary narratives without shedding light on the healing process, despite the fact that theorists have engaged with the possible solutions for overcoming trauma. However, this novel is an exception that is why the recuperative aspect has been specifically focused. The analysis suggests that the novel is an attempt to give voice to the unspeakable, narrating the traumatic history, with the help of fiction because, in the Freudian idiom, telling a story is a ‘talking cure’ which helps in the healing process. Moreover, the act of narrating the traumatic history of a nation also proves to be palliative for the collective consciousness.

Gender Pedagogy: A Feminist Approach to Teaching Sexist, Women Solidarity, and Power in the Patience Stone

“…In Atiq Rahimi's The Patience Stone, the discussion regarding women bonding in which sources shared between the female characters is happened when the worry over the niece overcomed by the aunty In the part when the unnamed female protagonist hides her period from her husband at the very first time they have first night as a wife and husband The Patience Stone are undeniably two novels which contain their great richness of the gender issues throughout the stories (Akhtar & Khan, 2021;Yangsen et al, 2021) As seen in the previous discussion which are supported by the detailed explanations and arguments in the research findings in chapter four, these women issues are closely associated with sexism and encompasses almost three gender issues as proposed by Hooks (1984) These three gender issues are brought to the attention of the readers in such exciting and artistic ways by relating them to the real-life conflicts (Belbase et al, 2022;Broman et al, 2022;Gosse & Burkell, 2020;Heras et al, 2020;Ng et al, 2022;Sønneland, 2019;Veldkamp et al, 2020;Verschaffel et al, 2020) and occurences through which each issue is expressed in practical sense to show its high significance to a large variety of contexts within the novels including political, social, and cultural situations in Afghanistan where two stories are set in.…”