Witnessing 1984: Mnemonic representations of trauma, resilience and hope in selected fiction

Literary narratives constitute memory-archives that challenge state silencing of anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984. The paper draws upon Rigney's 2021. "Remaking Memory and the Agency of the Aesthetic." Memory Studies 14 (1): 10–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/175069802097 idea of 'agency of the aesthetic' in generating memorability to show how cultural representations participate in unforgetting of traumatic pasts. The paper argues that in creating memorability of a difficult history, the texts bring state-narrative to a limit and open an alternative space where confrontation with traumatic-memories does not preclude possibility of hope. The texts feed into 'memory-as-relevance' as the mediation of memories of trauma, resilience, and hope carries possibility of effectuating subtle changes in the dominant narrative of anti-Sikh pogrom.