PALIMPSESTIC HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN IN NADEEM ASLAM’S THE WASTED VIGIL

Abstract

The recent history of Afghanistan is characterized by multiple invasions, conflicts and untold stories of tortures and human rights violations. Various narratives of power and violence have been superimposed on the Afghan land and the psyche of the people especially in the wake of Russia’s attack on Afghanistan, 9/11 and America’s military foray into the country. Palimpsest, as a paradigm for exploring different layers of mind, body, language and narratives, seems to be very suitable to unearth and encounter the history of Afghanistan inscribed with multiple invasions and bloodsheds. This paper explores the layers of violence in Pakistani-British writer Nadeem Aslam’s novel The Wasted Vigil (2008). Through a detailed textual analysis, it will be shown how land, body, memory and the environment are the surfaces where the discourse of violence is inscribed, erased and re-inscribed. The article critically examines the representations of violence directed against women, nature, art and the underprivileged. It identifies various types of palimpsests like spatial, topographical, historical, artistic and ideological. The analysis leads to the conclusion that by allowing multiple projections of the landscape, memory, body and history to comfortably coexist without losing distinction, the palimpsest structure of the novel promotes more inclusive discourse. The essay emphasizes the potential of palimpsest as a tool to force consideration of various aspects of historical, current, and future impacts on the social and cultural fabric, from both human and non-human sources.