Tracing post-war trauma and developments in Sri Lanka through Romesh Gunasekera’s Noontide Toll

Abstract

Sri Lanka, a nation known for its three-decade civil war between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil, endured extreme suffering during and after the war. This paper attempts to trace post-war trauma and national development in Sri Lanka through a literary analysis of Romesh Gunesekera’s Noontide Toll, which is set in post-war Sri Lanka. Using a qualitative approach rooted in trauma and development theories, the study examines the various coping mechanisms adopted by the characters in the novel whose individual traumatic experiences are part of the nation’s collective trauma. It also explores the uneven development between the war-torn Northern and developed Southern regions, which is evident through the narrator’s travel observation and introspection in the story. The findings suggest that the characters’ coping mechanisms and the introspective journey across the country by the narrator, who travels outside South of Sri Lanka to the North for the first time, display the efforts taken by the nation to address the issues of war victims. The significance of the study lies in understanding that addressing post-war trauma as a serious concern and efforts to promote even development methods across the country together would contribute to the nation’s growth, reconciliation, and healing.