'Unless you were here, how could you ever understand?': Silence, Complicity, and Storytelling in The Memory of Love and The Devil That Danced on the Water

Abstract

The Sierra Leonean Civil War (1991-2002) left a population full of scars from the countless atrocities that were committed, while they continue to live in one of the poorest countries in the world. One author that dares to revisit this past, is Aminatta Forna, through a memoir, The Devil That Danced on the Water (2002), and a novel, The Memory of Love (2011). This thesis reflects upon the impact of narrativisation in the face of catastrophe and ongoing suffering. What I will demonstrate is that storytelling is always connected to a power which is distributed unequally, with some storytellers that hide their complicity in violence, while other stories remain untold. Through analysing Memory and Devil independently as well as together, I show the tension between Western humanitarian aid and local coping mechanisms, and the merits of both silence and verbalisation of traumatic memories. These two works encourage crosscultural connection through allowing culturally unfamiliar readers to access the Sierra Leonean context, prompting readers to attune to silences, and to become aware of significant storytelling processes that can, under the right circumstances, lead to healing and understanding.