Between Knowing and not knowing: A Study of Trauma, History and ‘Memory’1, and the ‘Crying Wound’2 in The Kashmir Files (2022)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56062/gtrs.2023.2.03.316Keywords:
Trauma, Genre, Narrative, Genocide, Holocaust, memory, history, Kashmiri Pandits.Abstract
This paper examines how Vivek Agnihotri’s film The Kashmir Files (2022) participates in recreating trauma, reconstructing memory, and how ‘history gets short-changed in movies’. It showcases the conflict in two narratives; radical Islamic extremists’ Jihad and the traumatic narrative amongst non-violent Kashmiri Hindus, ‘a war of narratives’ (1.22.0). The focal point is the complexities of adapting history to the silver screen, which creates complicated and debatable negotiations between knowing and unknowing, reality and history, and truth and fiction. Traumatic memories of Genocide3 often challenge the rational faculties. The article investigates how the intelligentsia needs to address traumatic narratives as a genre. ‘Traumatic neurosis’4 reflected through ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Kashmiri Pandits5 in The Kashmir Files, offers new assertiveness. The text hits upon the ethical dilemma of how not to betray the past. The ‘not knowing’ or ignoring Traumatic incursion is thus recreated through the film that demands social healing. The paper examines the impact of The Kashmir Files on post Genocide peace and reconciliation.
References
Notes and references:
Terror of History is the phrase coined by Mircea Eliade in the book, The Myth of the Eternal Return: Archetypes and Repetition, for the memory of group suffering, endured without recourse to consoling myths.
Crying Wound is the term coined by Cathy Caruth in her Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History suggest the moving and sorrowful voice that cries out, a voice that is paradoxically released through the wound. The psychological wound needs immediate attention and remedy.
Raphael Lemkin coined the term Genocide in 1944 and soon it became the offshoot of Holocaust Studies. Academic attention was sought by the term with the signing of the Genocide Convention in the year 1948. Genocide studies have Historical Dimensions. A researcher can identify and explore physical, biological, and cultural Genocide in a given time of History. Genocide studies often explore its effects upon society through loss of life and destruction of economic resources and cultural values. The present century is known as the Genocide century.
Sigmond Freud developed the theory of Traumatic Neurosis borrowing the term from Hermann Oppenheimer who introduced it in 1889. In his book Moses and Monotheism (1939), Freud uses the term ‘Traumatic Neurosis’ to develop the theory of Trauma and explains how Jews underwent repressed and ages-old collective guilt and trauma of murdering Moses. The return of Moses as the savior of the Israelites is merely a hope that introduces the concept of the Messiah.
Kashmiri Pandits were Kashmiri Hindus and a part of India's large Saraswat Brahmin community living a harmonious life along with their Muslim brothers.
Joseph Nye coined the word soft power in 2006 as a country’s ability to achieve global influence through attraction rather than coercion. In other words, the power of attractiveness involves intangible power resources, such as culture.
Romila Thapar, in the book Cultural Past (2000), chapter seven “Society and Historical Consciousness: The Itihasa-Purana Tradition”, says historical consciousness takes the form of historical writing reflecting the kind of society from which it emanates. It also is defined as the understanding of the temporality of historical experience or how past, present, and future are thought to be connected.
PTSD stands for post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a mental health condition that is triggered by a catastrophic event. American Psychiatric Association describes PTSD as a psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event.
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Interviews
The Kashmir Files Interview । Vivek Agnihotri & Pallavi Joshi । Saurabh Dwivedi । The Lallantop - Bing video
"We were asked to flee, convert or die": Sunanda Vashisht at US Congressional hearing on Kashmir - Bing video
(72) Aarti Tikoo Remembers & Shares Story of Hindus Of Kashmir Valley - YouTube
News Paper Articles
Ahmad, Zubair. “Kashmiri Hindus: Driven out and insignificant”. BBC News article, April 6, 2016. Last accessed 13/04/23. 7.30 a.m.
Jabr, Samah. “Palestinian Resistance: Its Legitimate Right and Moral Duty”. MIFTAH article, Nov. 10, 2003. Last accessed 09/05/2023. 11.15 a.m.
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