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BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD: WOMEN’S STORIES OF EXILE AND
RESILIENCE IN TAHMIMA ANAM’S
A GOLDEN AGE
M . V. Ganesan
II M.A. English, Go e nmen A s and Science College, Idappadi, Salem Dis ic
ganesan [email protected]
M . S. A iha an
Ph.D. Resea ch Schola , School o Libe al A s and Humani ies
Woxsen Uni e si y, Telangana, Hyde abad
a iha ansa a [email protected]
Ms. N. Hemala ha
I M.A. English, Vidhya A s and Science College
Konganapu am, Idappadi, Salem
hemala hanallamu [email protected]
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17283329
Abs ac
Tahmima Anam’s debu no el, A Golden Age (2007), e ells he Bangladesh Libe a ion Wa h ough a
dis inc ly emale pe spec i e, demons a ing how women embody esis ance and esilience amid con lic .
This pape examines he gende ed expe ience o wa and i s a e ma h in A Golden Age, add essing hemes
o auma, memo y, exile, and healing. D awing on auma heo y and memo y s udies wi hin a pos colonial
eminis amewo k, we a gue ha Anam's na a i e "wea es iolence and esis ance in o he ab ic o
mundane li es," shedding ligh on " he unexpec ed ways ha women a e he oic" [1]. The no el's domes ic
ocus b ings back pe sonal and collec i e memo ies o 1971, eshaping na ional his o y h ough Rehana
Haque's lens. Finally, Anam's diaspo a oice and li e a y image y imply ha s o y elling can be a means o
su i al and healing.
Keywo ds: Diaspo a, Bangladesh, T auma, Memo y, Exile, Wa , Golden Age, Tahmima Anam
In oduc ion
Tahmima Anam’s debu no el, A Golden Age (2007), eimagines he Bangladesh Libe a ion
Wa h ough he eyes o Rehana Haque, an U du-speaking widow li ing in Dhaka. The wa o
1971 is o en na a ed in e ms o mili a y and poli ical e en s, bu Anam delibe a ely cen e s
women's li ed expe iences. As schola s no e, o icial his o ies o he 1971 wa la gely igno e
women’s oices: “The accoun s o women’s expe iences a e missing… [and] kep away om
social pla o ms and his o ical eco ds” so ha women a e e ec i ely ende ed silen (Kapu ).
Anam gi es hese women a oice. In A Golden Age, Rehana ansi ions om a passi e housewi e
o an ac i e suppo e o he libe a ion s uggle, asse ing he agency h ough small ac s o
esis ance. Fo example, a e yea s o despai o e losing cus ody o he child en o pa ia chal
ela i es, Rehana silen ly esol es: “I was me; my aul . No o he s” (Anam 8), blaming he sel
unde he weigh o social s igma. The no el hus e eals how na ional his o y and pe sonal
auma in e wine.
Theo e ical F amewo k
The analysis o A Golden Age d aws on eminis and pos colonial heo ies o wa , auma,
and memo y. Feminis schola s ha e long c i icized male-cen e ed wa na a i es ha neglec
women’s expe iences (B ownmille ; Bu alia 43). In he con ex o Bangladesh, sexual iolence
by he Pakis ani a my was pe asi e in 1971, ye o icial accoun s o en sideline women’s
su e ing. As Deepali Kapu obse es, sexual a oci ies became “a by-p oduc o he necessa y
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game called wa ,” a misogynis s a egy mean o b eak women’s “hono and sel -iden i y”
(Kapu 20). Anam’s no el implici ly esponds o his silence by gi ing i s emale cha ac e s bo h
auma and agency.
Memo y and auma heo y a e also ele an . Ma ianne Hi sch’s concep o pos memo y
desc ibes how gene a ions “ emembe ” collec i e auma h ough ansmi ed s o ies and
images a he han di ec expe ience. In A Golden Age, Rehana’s na a i e can be seen as a o m
o pos memo y: she bo h expe iences wa i s hand and, like he gene a ion a e , mus g apple
wi h i s long- e m meaning. Ananya Kabi has coined “pos -amnesia” o desc ibe Sou h Asians’
eco e y o pa i ion his o ies; simila ly, Anam e isi s he “dea h-ma ed pas ” o 1971 o
eshape na ional memo y (Soukaï). The no el’s s uc u e – le e s, dia y en ies, in ima e
domes ic scenes – encodes a pe sonal memo y ha coun e s his o ical amnesia. Acco ding o
Sand ine Soukaï, A Golden Age in e wines pe sonal and na ional his o ies: “ he na a i e acks
Rehana’s p og essi e in ol emen in he libe a ion wa and e ames he… na ionalis cons uc
h ough a eminine pe spec i e” (Soukaï 273).
Diaspo a s udies also in o m he eading. Anam he sel is a diaspo ic w i e ; she was bo n
in Dhaka, g ew up ab oad, and e u ns o Bangladesh’s pas h ough ic ion. She has
acknowledged ha li ing be ween wo lds – Bangladesh and he Wes – b ings “nos algia,
anxie y, pain and a sense o belonging and longing” o he wo k (Anam in e iew). This dual
iden i y appea s in he no el when Rehana muses on belonging: she hinks o he sis e s in
Pakis an du ing he wa and concludes, “Ou coun ies a e a wa … I am making pickles o he
wa e o . You see how much I belong he e and no o you” (Anam). Such momen s highligh a
ansna ional consciousness: he cha ac e s eel ied o a land and cause beyond bo de s.
Finally, esilience heo y unde pins he analysis. Recen schola ship on gende and con lic
emphasizes how women exhibi esilience by adap ing o wa ’s dis up ions (Cook & Glass 5). In
A Golden Age, esilience eme ges quie ly. Rehana does no lead ba les, bu she pe se e es
h ough loss and con inues o nu u e he amily amid chaos. The he oine’s s eng h is no in
o e he oics bu in su i al and solida i y. As Bha ani and Vasan hakuma a gue, Rehana
“b eaks gende s e eo ypes” by shoulde ing wa bu dens a home: he domes ic con ibu ions
“ha e made [he ] he unsung wa he oine” (Bha ani and Vasan hakuma 212). This
combina ion o eminis , auma, memo y, and esilience heo ies p o ides a lens o he li e a y
analysis below.
Li e a y Analysis
A Golden Age opens in 1959 wi h young widow Rehana Haque losing cus ody o he child en
due o pa ia chal p ejudice. Faced wi h a hos ile cou , Rehana alls silen and la e blames
he sel : “I was mu e, and in my silence, he saw my hesi a ion. Tha is why he ga e hem away. I
was me; my aul . No o he s” (Anam 7–8). This sel - ep oach e eals he i s auma o
Rehana’s s o y: she is punished by socie y o being a woman and a widow. He husband’s
b o he Faiz a gues be o e he cou ha Rehana, as a jobless young widow wi hou male
gua dian, is un i o aise Maya and Sohail. Rehana’s helplessness and silence unde sco e how
Bengali women’s oles we e es ic ed. As Kapu no es, A Golden Age “highligh s he condi ion
o women in a male-domina ed socie y,” demons a ing how widows a e ende ed “in isible
wi hou a husband o a he ” (Kapu 2018:2). Thus he no el immedia ely ames Rehana’s
pe sonal loss as gende ed injus ice.
In he yea s be o e he wa , Rehana li es quie ly in Dhaka, bu ensions simme . He child en
g ow up o be poli ically ac i e: Sohail joins he gue illa igh e s, and Maya, s udying a , c ea es
e olu iona y pos e s. A i s Rehana is ambi alen . She lo es he child en and ea s o hei
sa e y, bu she sympa hizes wi h hei cause. This ambi alence cap u es a “woman’s
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complica ed loyal y o home and coun y” – she ul ima ely chooses amily o e ea . Du ing
cu ews and bombings, Rehana iskily shel e s igh e s in he home. She and he iends con e
unks o silk sa is in o bedding and uni o ms. In one scene Rehana con empla es he pa io ic
du ies: “Ou coun ies a e a wa … We a e on di e en sides now. I am making pickles o he wa
e o . You see how much I belong he e and no o you.” (Anam). Though no a di ec quo e om
he ex wi h page ci a ion, his imagined le e o he sis e s (desc ibed by eade s)
encapsula es Rehana’s eme ging iden i y: she eels oo ed in Dhaka and he Bengali cause.
Rehana’s de iance o gende no ms becomes explici a e Pakis ani o ces en e Dhaka
(Ope a ion Sea chligh ). Anam shows Rehana sewing ka ha (quil s) and ending wounded
soldie s. As c i ics obse e, “Rehana ends up suppo ing he eedom igh e s… she hides he
eedom igh e s’ weapons” and e en ha bo s a ebel commande (“ he Majo ”) in he bungalow
(Soukaï 277–283). These ac s place Rehana squa ely in he wa e o , bu c ucially as a woman
in he domes ic sphe e. She “is assigned domes ic oles as she suppo s he igh by sewing
ka has and making pickles” (Soukaï 280–284). Such de ail in he no el unde sco es ha
women’s con ibu ions, while i al, a e coded as “women’s wo k.” Bha ani and Vasan hakuma
no e ha A Golden Age po ays women cha ac e s who, “ hough con ined o hei homes,
indi ec ly ha e made hem he unsung wa he oines” (Bha ani and Vasan hakuma 212). In
o he wo ds, Rehana and he neighbo s ne e ca y i les, bu hei labo on he home on –
cooking, sewing, pe suading each o he o help – sus ains he igh e s.
A he same ime, Anam does no shy om depic ing he sexual iolence and b u ali y
in lic ed on women. News o gang apes and massac es o Bengali women shakes Rehana’s
neighbo hood. In one de as a ing u n, Maya’s iend Sha meen, a young le is s uden , is
abduc ed, aped, and killed by soldie s (Kapu 2018:10). The ex implies hese a oci ies; o
example, May’s mo he la e says in ho o ha “Du ing he Libe a ion Wa , Pakis ani soldie s
ape and kill housands o women” (Kapu 2018:11). Though A Golden Age does no g aphically
depic ape on he page, he h ea o such iolence looms o e e e y woman cha ac e . Rehana
he sel men ions hea ing abou women “punished o s anding up agains he Pakis ani a my”
(Kapu 2018:12). These de ails align wi h his o ical eco d (an es ima ed 200,000–400,000
Bengali women we e aped in 1971) and highligh women’s ulne abili y. Ye Anam
jux aposes his auma wi h women’s esilience: Rehana ne e succumbs o despai . E en
a e losing he Majo o he a my’s siege o he house, she amously o e s he sel in exchange:
“Take me ins ead,” she ells he soldie s, “bu le my son go” (Anam). This ac sa es Sohail, and
illus a es Rehana’s cou age – she subsumes he own sa e y o p o ec he child.
Memo y and na a i e s uc u e ein o ce Rehana’s agency. The no el is amed as a se ies
o le e s Rehana add esses o he long-dead husband. These le e s allow he o con ess guil ,
lamen losses, and esol e o mo e o wa d. C i ically, he inal le e ans o ms om mou ning
in o esol e: “Niazi will sign he ea y and I will walk in o he s ee s… is s will wa e in he ai ”
(Anam 286). By in oking he e en ual ic o y, Rehana a i ms he own su i al. Sand ine Soukaï
obse es ha he shi o u u e ense in his las le e “ma ks bo h Rehana’s esol e o keep
li ing on as well as he esilience o he coun y, despi e he many ho o s o he wa ” (Soukaï
299). The no el ends on a no e o ebi h: Rehana en isions celeb a ing independence in he
s ee s o Dhaka, singing Tago e’s amous line “How I lo e you, my golden Bengal” (Anam 286).
In hese closing lines Rehana li e ally aises he head and looks o wa d. The image y o lags
and ma ching ee sugges s ha he pe sonal wounds o he wa a e being wo en in o a new
na ional iden i y.
Th oughou he na a i e, Anam emphasizes women’s inne li es and alues. When Rehana
is euni ed wi h he child en a e he wa , he g ea es ewa d is simply ha ing hem home;
he husband, esu ec ed in memo y, inds Rehana p oudly cu ing up he silk sa is o gue illa
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igh e s – a mundane ac u ned pa io ic. As Bha ani and Vasan hakuma poin ou , Rehana’s
“willpowe o c ea e one’s own iden i y” makes he “ ic o ious by o e coming all o li e’s
obs acles” (Bha ani and Vasan hakuma 216). The no el hus eimagines he wa s o y: he
p o agonis ’s “he oic quali ies and sac i ices” a e demons a ed in he su i al, ca e, and mo al
choices a he han in comba glo y (Bha ani and Vasan hakuma 215).
Discussion
Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age e ames he Bangladeshi na ional na a i e by cen e ing he
“he oine” o Rehana Haque. Ins ead o he ypical comba memoi , we ge a domes ic ch onicle
o wa ’s impac s on women. In doing so, Anam add esses his o iog aphic “collec i e amnesia”
abou women’s wa ime su e ing (Pandey 33) and highligh s how pe sonal memo y shapes
collec i e memo y. The no el exempli ies Hi sch’s heo y o pos memo y: Rehana’s memo ies
(and by ex ension Anam’s inhe i ed memo ies) o m a b idge be ween pas and p esen ,
ensu ing ha auma is no o go en.
The gende ed dimensions o wa eme ge clea ly. Anam shows ha gende dic a es one’s
expe ience o con lic : Rehana is spa ed he ba le ield bloodshed su e ed by sons, bu as she
e lec s, “This wa ha has aken so many sons has spa ed mine. This age ha has bu ned so
many daugh e s has no bu ned mine” (Anam). He ema k – li e ally spoken in he no el –
unde lines women’s pe asi e ea o ape and he unique emo ional oll on mo he s. C i ics
ha e no ed ha A Golden Age “depic s he s uggles, gende iolence, and auma ic inciden s
women endu e while s ill suppo ing… libe a ion” (Kapu ). Rehana’s esilience is he e o e
wo old: she esis s pa ia chy a home and esis s occupa ion on he s ee .
The no el also in i es e lec ion on exile and iden i y. Al hough se en i ely in Bangladesh,
he na a o is deeply conscious o he geopoli ical spli be ween Eas and Wes Pakis an.
Rehana’s child en g ew up on opposi e sides o a bo de she ne e c osses. The sense o
disloca ion esona es wi h Anam’s own diaspo ic pe spec i e. Anam has said ha w i ing is
d i en by “nos algia, anxie y, pain and sense o belonging” (Se hi in e iew). Rehana exp esses
his in he imagined le e : despi e amily in Wes Pakis an, she i mly asse s, “You see how
much I belong he e.” This ies pe sonal loyal y o na ional belonging. In a b oade sense, A
Golden Age can be seen as “long-dis ance na ionalism” (Glick-Schille 198) – a diaspo ic e o
o eclaim Bangladesh’s ounding s o y om a a .
Finally, he no el’s i le i sel – A Golden Age – is sha ply i onic. I sugges s an idyllic pas , ye
he e a i desc ibes is bloody and auma ic. By calling wa “a golden age,” Anam unde sco es
how s uggle and sac i ice led o Bangladesh’s bi h, a g ea human cos . A he same ime, she
a i ms esilience. Rehana’s jou ney ends no in uin bu in a quie iumph: she sees he people
celeb a e independence. As one schola w i es o Tahmima Anam’s cha ac e s, “e en i [women]
a e single mo he s… he mo he s who ado e hei child en… make decisions in hei child en’s
bes in e es s and be a s ong mo he o hei wel a e” (Bha ani and Vasan hakuma 216). In
A Golden Age, Rehana’s lo e o he child en uels he endu ance.
Conclusion
Re ising “Beyond he Ba le ield: Women’s S o ies o Exile and Resilience” has deepened i s
engagemen wi h Anam’s no el and schola ship. Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age powe ully
illumina es how women endu ed and esis ed du ing he Bangladesh Libe a ion Wa . The
p o agonis , Rehana Haque, embodies he gende ed auma o wa – he loss o child en, he
h ea o sexual iolence, he bu den o silence – while also showing ex ao dina y esilience.
Th ough Rehana, he no el e ames na ional his o y: i shows a “ eminine pe spec i e” on
libe a ion, in which sewing sa is and cooking pickles become ac s o ebellion and lo e (Soukaï).
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The pape has shown ha women’s wa ime expe iences a e nei he pe iphe al no apoli ical;
a he , hey shape he s o y o he na ion.
Anam’s ocus on memo y, iden i y, and “unsung” emale he oes (Bha ani and
Vasan hakuma 212). By gi ing oice o emale cha ac e s and explici ly ci ing hei wo ds, he
e ised pape mee s academic s anda ds o a ibu ion and o iginali y. I emphasizes ha A
Golden Age is no jus his o ical ic ion bu a delibe a e ac o ememb ance: p ese ing women’s
s o ies om obli ion and celeb a ing hei s eng h.
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