Published Paper Details:

This research article examines the intergenerational trauma and cultural memory through deep exploration of Daisy Rockwell's English translation of Bhisham Sahni's exponential novel Tamas (1972, 2016). Tamas is set in the historical background of the Partition of India (1947), therefore this paper focuses on how the cultural postmemory and lived experiences of such a cataclysmic event had an impact on the psychological and sociological landscape collectively and how it continues to shape the experiences of the second generation through an intertextual descriptive and qualitative analysis. It provides critical insights into the social and mental complexities while examining how trauma narratives are interwoven with memories of the past events that have a deep impact on the people and society as a whole till date. It is brought to light by examining the politics of forgetting and willful remembrance of the past and the intergenerational transmission of trauma through cultural memory and historical narratives.This article explores the concerns raised against the backdrop of Partition of India with the help of secondary texts like Khushwant Singh's novel Train to Pakistan (1956) and Amitav Ghosh's novel The Shadow Lines (1988). It scrutinizes the shattered lives and communities which grapple with the enduring scars of memory as both a burden and a means of survival, and with trauma becoming a way of life for those living in the aftermath of such a catastrophic event by highlighting the pervasive fear, violence, and loss they endure. The study offers rich exploration of how postmemory offers as a vehicle for expressing cultural past amid the traumatic complexities of Partition by exploring its impact on the collective psyche of the society.Through an understanding of theoretical frameworks and earlier researches on Trauma Studies, Postmemory, Cultural Memory, ambivalence, concept of 'self' and 'other', through the critical works of Cathy Caruth, Astrid Erll, Marianne Hirsch, Homi K. Bhabha, and Edward Said respectively the article substantiates the arguments raised in the paper. It further answers the question, Whether the trauma endured and its post-memories continue to haunt the present of the second generation? It also raises the question, How is the present shaped by past cataclysmic events like that of Partition?