COLLECTIVE AND PERSONAL TRAUMA IN NJABULO NDEBELE’S THE CRY OF WINNIE MANDELA AND CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’S HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

Abstract

This article centers on the portrayal of collective and individual trauma in Njabulo Ndebele's The Cry of Winnie Mandela and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun. Borrowing concepts from postcolonial theory and trauma studies, the inquiry considers the psychological and historical ramifications of national crises in both novels: apartheid in South Africa and the Nigerian Civil War. This study considers the dual concepts of trauma as expressed by narrative time and the tension between individual experience and collective history. Both texts propose how individuals' suffering is shaped by wider socio-political violence and how storytelling enables the confrontation and catharsis of traumatic pasts. In conclusion, the study attests that these novels serve as literary interventions that contest official history and pave way for the further conceptualization of trauma within post colony African settings.