NEGOTIATION OF MIGRATION AND TRAUMA: A CROSS-CULTURAL ENCOUNTER IN MANJUSHREE THAPA'S SEASONS OF FLIGHT

War causes death and displacement of people. Thapa’s novel Seasons of Flight illustrates the psychological trauma of displacement experienced by the people of Nepal due to the Nepalese Civil War, and how Nepalese migrants coped with and responded to the problems and inherent challenges of their host countries. The Nepalese Civil War (1996-2006) engulfed the entire country in catastrophe and destruction. The life of Prema, the protagonist, vividly describes the psychological implications of war and displacement, community cohesion, collective memory, identity crisis and the quest for belonging. In order to escape the authoritarian regime and persecution, Prema absconded from Nepal, her native country, in haste, and took shelter in the U.S. She demonstrates how relinquishing Nepal and settling in an unacquainted cultural province is painful and traumatic. Yet, resilience helps Prema to endure exile, adapt to unfamiliar spaces, and confront her past. Methodologically, the paper employs a qualitative textual investigation and a close reading of Thapa’s novel. The research is theoretically informed by Trauma and Migration studies, particularly the works of Sigmund Freud, Cathy Caruth, Salman Akhtar, Goutam Karmakar and Zeenat Khan, Gloria Kwok, Joanne Stubley, Meryam Schouler-Ocak and others. Establishing the novel within the historical context of Nepal’s Civil War and political conflict, the paper explores how individual memories evolve into narratives of collective memory through shared experiences and alienation. By employing Nepali literature, the research contributes to enlarging trauma theory beyond its predominantly Western paradigm, such as the Holocaust and World Wars. The research highlights the significance of South Asian perspectives on global trauma discourse. It provides a critical lens to comprehend how Nepali literature demonstrate psychological aftermath of civil war and socio- political upheaval.