Intergenerational Trauma and Female Silence in A Woman Is No Man: A Postcolonial Feminist Study

Abstract

A postcolonial feminist analysis of intergenerational trauma and female silence in Etaf Rum's novel A Woman is No Man (2019). The study focuses on the displacement experiences of three generations of Palestinian-American women and how these experiences are shaped by historical displacement, patriarchal norms, and diasporic experiences. This study's main aim is to zoom in on mechanisms of inter-generational transmission of trauma and explore the role of female silence as an instrument of oppression and a possible locus of resistance. The study has been informed by postcolonial feminist theory, examines the entanglements of colonialism, patriarchy, and gender-based violence in the Palestinian diaspora. The data were collected from the entire primary source (novel) and relevant secondary sources (Scholarly sources). To identify information-rich passages which depict Fareeda, Isra and Deya, the purposive sampling method was used. The main data analysis tools were Thematizing Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis. The results indicate that intergenerational trauma can be passed on via maternal norms, domestic violence and cultural silence, but can also be broken in the third generation through education and conscious resistance. The novel is a wonderful example of the way in which silence has become an ally for survival and a voice in its emergence and how literature can be an instrument of Decolonial healing.