Scars in the Silence: War and Witness in Contemporary English Narratives

Abstract

This article investigates how contemporary English narratives reconfigure the representation of war by transcending conventional narratives of heroism and nationalism to foreground trauma, moral ambiguity, and fragmented memory. Employing a multidisciplinary methodology that combines close textual analysis with theoretical frameworks drawn from trauma theory (Caruth, 1996), ethical witness theory, and postcolonial war studies and postcolonial war studies (Mufti, 2018), the study critically engages with key texts including Pat Barker’s Regeneration, Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong, Ian McEwan’s Saturday, Chigozie Obioma’s The Road to the Country, and Yumna Kassab’s Politica. The central research questions explore how these narratives articulate the psychological scars of conflict, challenge dominant war discourses, and address the silences imposed by cultural and political erasures. By analysing literary form, character psychology, and intertextual dialogues, the article elucidates the ways in which contemporary authors negotiate the ethical complexities of bearing witness to violence. It also integrates recent scholarly debates to position these works within broader conversations on war and memory. The study concludes by suggesting avenues for further research, including comparative studies of war literature across cultures and the impact of digital media on the evolving discourse of war witness in literature. Ultimately, the article argues that contemporary war literature functions not only as testimony to trauma but as a vital act of moral remembrance and resistance.