SHADES OF SILENCE IN YASMINE EL RASHIDIʼS CHRONICLE OF A LAST SUMMER: SOCIO-CULTURAL DYNAMICS, SILENCING AND TRAUMA

Rok, strany: 2024, 147 - 174

The article analyses multiple meanings of silence in the novel Chronicle of a Last Summer written by the contemporary Egyptian writer Yasmine El Rashidi. The paper moves beyond the understanding of silence as a mere absence of speech and considers its semantic ambiguity whose interpretation is circumstantially dependent. The silences depicted in the novel are not uniform; instead, they originate from various contexts. The article aims to identify these silences, explore their origins, and analyse their potential meanings and functions; some serve as a form of communication, others result from intentional silencing or even collective trauma. The paper focuses mostly on silences produced by people around the protagonist, either intentional or imposed, which have shaped her personality and her own take on silence, specifically her lack of coverage of the revolutionary period. Even though the protagonist’s silence with regard to the 25 January Revolution can be interpreted in multiple ways – including but not restricted to her profound disappointment and reluctance to revisit painful memories – the article argues that it can also be viewed as an expression of dissent and resistance against the official revolutionary narrative.

ISO 690:

Bešková, K. 2024. SHADES OF SILENCE IN YASMINE EL RASHIDIʼS CHRONICLE OF A LAST SUMMER: SOCIO-CULTURAL DYNAMICS, SILENCING AND TRAUMA. In Asian and African Studies, vol. 33, no.2, pp. 147-174. 1335-1257. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/aassav.2024.33.2.01

APA:

Bešková, K. (2024). SHADES OF SILENCE IN YASMINE EL RASHIDIʼS CHRONICLE OF A LAST SUMMER: SOCIO-CULTURAL DYNAMICS, SILENCING AND TRAUMA. Asian and African Studies, 33(2), 147-174. 1335-1257. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/aassav.2024.33.2.01

Vydavateľ: Institute of Oriental Studies

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