Exploring Trauma and Text Worlds in the Novel The Spinner’s Tale: A Cognitive Poetic Analysis

Abstract

Over the last few decades, the prevalence of violence and terrorism in Pakistan has substantially affected the mental health of Pakistani youth (Khan 365; Munawar et al. 10). This issue is comparatively underexplored and requires careful consideration. The present study examines individual and collective trauma in Pakistani society, utilising the theoretical framework of literary trauma theory in the light of contemporary Pakistani fiction writing, specifically The Spinner’s Tale. It draws attention to the protagonist Ausi’s trauma by employing the 2022 revised fifth edition (DSM-5-TR) of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). It utilises Kai Erikson’s theory to explore the collective trauma of Pakistani society. These theoretical concepts are studied from a cognitive poetics perspective, employing the Text World Theory (TWT) proposed by Joanna Gavins as the analytical framework. The findings reveal that Ausi’s Trauma is realised in the narrative through all three interconnecting levels of TWT, i.e., the discourse world, the text world, and the new worlds. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the discourse world-level of TWT connects Ausi’s trauma with the collective trauma of Pakistani society, as it is responsible for Ausi’s transformation from a young, educated Pakistani youth into an internationally wanted terrorist. The present study aims to raise awareness within Pakistani society regarding the damaging effects of social disruption, which may lead to further incidents of violence and terrorism.