THE UNSPOKEN AND THE UNRESOLVED: AN EXPLORATION OF TRAUMA AND RESISTANCE IN THE BOOK OF GOLD LEAVES

Abstract

The study explores the underlying narrative structure in The Book of Gold Leaves by Mirza Waheed by drawing upon Roland Barthes’ five narrative codes. The study focuses on how these five narrative codes, i.e. hermeneutic, proairetic, semantic, symbolic and cultural are used to depict the themes of trauma, resilience and resistance in the novel. For this purpose, different lexias related to five narrative codes are identified and categorised according to different codes. Then different lexias are interpreted to understand how they help to dismantle the narrative structure and thematic depth of the novel. This study, by applying Barthesian codes on The Book of Gold Leaves, found that these codes, by constructing a perceptible and detectable web of narrative, lead the reader to an open-ended conclusion. An open-ended conclusion which is unavoidable under the present circumstances because the forms of trauma and resistance are not verbalizable. The unresolved ending also shows the complexity of the Kashmir conflict.