Memory and Trauma in Dinaw Mengestu’s The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

Abstract

This research investigates memory and trauma in Mengestu’s The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears. The study uses trauma theory, especially insidious trauma and qualitative textual analysis methodology to probe how the author challenges some previous notions of trauma and displacement in Diasporic African literature. The novel subverts such major themes of the movement in previous works as the transatlantic forced slavery, colonialism and the erroneous partition of Africa, to engage individual and collective strained and disillusioned experiences of its migrants. The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears goes beyond geographical displacement to highlight more on the psychological aftermath of the experience for the exile on arrival to host country. Therefore, one of the findings of this paper is that the narrative underlines the intense feeling of loss caused by one’s dislocation from the host, family and nation that disrupts memory and challenges one’s identity. It calls for more probing of the subtle experiences of the migrant that has been overlooked to broaden the understanding of the movement.