Psychosexual Trauma and Gendered Memory: Resilience in Fasting, Feasting

Objective: This article discusses the novel Fasting, Feasting in light of feminist trauma theory, betrayal trauma theory, and psychosexual studies to analyze the interlinking aspects of gender trauma, memory, and resilience. While focusing on Uma’s experiences in India’s domestic arena, the article will consider Melanie’s experiences in America by contrast. The article seeks to examine how patriarchal structures control women through emotions, body, and social norms. Methods: The research employs a qualitative methodology that is based on textual and interpretive research methods. The analysis is informed by theories such as feminist trauma studies, psychosexual studies, and memory studies. Based on theories such as betrayal trauma, traumatic bonding, body sovereignty, and prototypicality, the research analyses the narrative techniques, symbolism, imagery, and representation of the female body in the novel. Using comparative textual analysis, the research seeks to analyze how trauma, silence, deprivation, and bodily regulation influence the psychology of Uma and Melanie in diverse cultural settings. Results: This analysis shows that patriarchy in the novel not only exists in the form of physical dominance but also through internalization. The oppression of Uma through the lack of education, failure to negotiate for marriage, emotional subjugation, and confinement at home leads to a legacy of trauma and dependence on a psychological level, while the eating disorder of Melanie is an outcome of the coercive force of the Western standard of beauty. This study also illustrates the fact that trauma in the novel not only exists on a psychological level but also on a physical one by means of the return of memories through sensation and pain. Conclusion: The research finds that Fasting, Feasting constructs gendered trauma as a transnational and psychosexual phenomenon, which is a product of the cultural norms of the female body and identity. Through an illustration of the universal nature of patriarchal control in both the Indian and American societies, the analysis shows how the female body becomes a locus for correction, silencing, and control. In addition, the article reveals that resilience does not come through resistance but through survival, emotional persistence, and self-protection. This interpretation provides a critical perspective on Desai’s work and contributes to current debates on trauma, gender, psychosexual health, and feminist literary criticism.