Narrating Pain, Preserving Memory: Trauma and Testimony in Indentured Labour Narratives
Author(s): Sangeeta Dhojak
Publication #: 2601015
Date of Publication: 20.01.2026
Country: India
Pages: 1-8
Published In: Volume 12 Issue 1 January-2026
Abstract
The history of indentured labour is marked by profound experiences of displacement, exploitation, and cultural dislocation. This paper, titled “Narrating Pain, Preserving Memory: Trauma and Testimony in Indentured Labour Narratives,” examines how survivors and their descendants construct, articulate, and transmit traumatic memories through written and oral testimonies. Drawing upon interdisciplinary frameworks from trauma studies, postcolonial theory, memory studies, and subaltern historiography, the study explores the narrative strategies through which pain is voiced and silences are negotiated. Indentured labour narratives—ranging from archival records, memoirs, and letters to contemporary fictional reconstructions—serve as crucial sites for reclaiming agency and resisting the erasure of subaltern histories. By foregrounding lived experiences of violence, familial rupture, and cultural resilience, the paper situates testimony not only as a form of bearing witness but also as a means of cultural preservation and intergenerational healing. Ultimately, the study underscores the role of narrative in transforming traumatic memory into collective history, thereby challenging dominant colonial discourses and restoring dignity to marginalized voices.
Keywords: Indentured labour, trauma studies, testimony, memory, subaltern studies, postcolonial narrative, displacement, cultural resilience, narrative strategies, collective history.
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