RESONANCES OF TRAUMA, MEMORY, AND RESILIENCE IN ‘AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW’ BY ZOULFA KATOUH

Abstract

This paper is an explorationof how trauma, memory, and resilience aredepictedin a youngadult novel ‘As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow’ (2022) by Zoulfa Katouh, which unfolds during the Syrian civil war. Employingclose readingandthematic analysis, the paper shows how the authorsemploy narrative techniques of hallucination, fragmentation of time, intrusive memories, and guilt of the survivor as a way of portraying trauma. Following a hybrid theoretical approach consisting of both the classical trauma theory (Caruth, 1996; Herman, 1992) and the postcolonial trauma approaches (Craps, 2013; Visser, 2015, 2018), the reading explores the connections between individual mental suffering and trauma of the collective: that of war, displacement, and historical violence. The paper also points out that the process of resilience is reflected in memory, narrative, and personal relationships, which enables the maincharacterto get throughher experience and restoreagency. Situated within the larger body of young adult trauma literature, alongside text like The Kite Runner, Salt to the Sea and The Island of Missing Trees, Katouh’s novel demonstrates the potential of young adult books to act as a witness of a conflict and catalyst of empathy. The study adds to the perspective of trauma research, postcolonial critical theory, and the dynamic debate of non-Western experiences in the current writing of young adult literature.