Abstract
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF TERRORISM ON INDIVIDUALS IN KAMILA SHAMSIE'S BURNT SHADOWS (2009)
Significantly, the atomic bomb of Hiroshima (1945) changed the
world. It is an odd effect on individuals; however, there are some
other tragedies such as: the invasion of Afghanistan, the partition
of India, the war on terror, and the last is 9/11 of America. The
Pakistani author, Kamila Shamsie (1973), in Burnt Shadows
(2009), succeeded in presenting ill experiences of women. She
idealized life through portraying female characters whose existence
is questionable. The Japanese protagonist, Hiroko Tanaka,
witnessed the event, and was disfigured as a result. The effect is
mostly psychological. The psychological impact is the core study of
the paper. The paper will also examine the mixed cultures of
women characters through the psychoanalytic approach.
Alienation, displacement, strangeness are results of terrorism. The
aim is to study the effect of the psychological damage caused by
wars. The significance of the study is to explore the role of the
contemporary trauma fiction in portraying real life. The paper
consists of an introduction, background, the theoretical aspect,
trauma fiction, identity and shattered self, the autobiographic
element, and a conclusion.
Keywords
Kamila Shamsie, Atomic, Disfigured, Alienation, Terrorism.
