Volume VI Special Issue V June 2026

Name of Author : Prashant khute

Title of the paper : Borders, Bodies, and Motherhood: Gendered Trauma in Select 21st Century War Narratives

Abstract: This article examines the representation of womens suffering ,survival, and maternal identity in war narratives through a comparative study of Amrita Pritams Pinjar , Chimamanda Ngozy Adichie Half of a Yellow Sun, and Khaled Hosseinis A Thousand Splendid Suns. Situated within contemporary debates on decolonizing gender studies ,the paper investigates how war transforms womens bodies into sites of violence, memory, displacement, and resistance. Drawing upon feminist trauma theory, postcolonial criticism, and decolonial feminist frameworks, the study argues that borders both geographical and psychological intensify gendered violence while simultaneously creating spaces for resilience and agency. The selected texts foreground womens experiences of Partition, civil war, and political extremism, challenging conventional war narrative centered on military history and masculine heroism. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates how motherhood functions as both an instrument of patriarchal control and a powerful form of resistance. By centering voices from South Asia and Africa, these narratives challenge Eurocentric understandings of war and trauma while contributing to broader conversations about memory, identity, and transnational feminist solidarity. The study ultimately argues that contemporary war literature recovers marginalized histories and imagines inclusive feminist futures rooted in survival, empathy, and collective resistance.

Keywords : Gendered Trauma, Motherhood, War Narratives, Decolonial Feminsism, Partition, Civil War, Identity, Women and Conflict.

DOI :

Page Number : 190-193