Narrating the Unhealed Wound: War Trauma in Sinan Antoon’s “The Corpse Washer” and “Ave Maria”

  • Ali Hussein Ali Rasheed College of Education for Humanities, Al-Hamdaniya University, Nineveh, Iraq.
DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19669771
Published: 2026-04-20
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Abstract

This article analyzes the way Sinan Antoon uses the power of narration in both the Corpse Washer and the Ave Maria to transform the historically restrictive context of personal and communal memory into the context within which the tragedy of war is dealt with. The use of violence and loss cycles puts most of the characters in the fiction in a state of limitation, but they slowly bend the lines between the past and the present without breaking the silence of the current conflict. The memory modes of Baghdad represented in the novels with its broken time and spectral memory dissolve the line between experience and psychoanalysis. Boundaries are blurred, which shows how the characters are able to break the limits of their damaged minds. Jawad and his routines, coupled with Youssef and his spiritual visions, defy the traditional attitudes to the victim as helpless and resigned. This article adds to the important literature about Antoon by pointing out the inventiveness with which the books use fragmented narrative. This is the method that refats trauma in the shape of narration resistance and survival. While preceding scholars have explored the political dynamics in Antoon's novels, this take a look at gives a sparkling attitude to the position of memory as a metaphorical and mental agent of patience.

Keywords: War Trauma Healing Iraqi literature Diaspora

How to Cite

Ali, A. H. (2026). Narrating the Unhealed Wound: War Trauma in Sinan Antoon’s “The Corpse Washer” and “Ave Maria”. European Journal of Humanistic Studies and Social Dynamics, 2(2), 58-72. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19669771
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Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026)

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Copyright (c) 2026 European Journal of Humanistic Studies and Social Dynamics

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Author Biography

  • Ali Hussein Ali Rasheed, College of Education for Humanities, Al-Hamdaniya University, Nineveh, Iraq.

    I am a researcher and assistant lecturer at Al-Hamdaniya University, specializing in Modern and Contemporary English Literature. My research focuses on exploring psychological and traumatic experiences in literature using insights from psychoanalysis and cognitive studies, applying literary theory to analyze works, and investigating the intersections of identity, power, and representation within Modern and Contemporary English Literature.

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