Capturing Women of War: The Use of Multiple Modes of  Self-Expression in Women’s Life Narratives in Herstories

DDL Willarachchi

DDL Willarachchi Department of Languages, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka

Keywords: women survivors of war, expressions of self, war life narration, digital archiving

Abstract

In any conflict situation, women become more vulnerable, and their narratives may get overlooked or glossed over in historical records which tend to give prominence to hero myths or dominant political narratives of the time. In the aftermath of the 30-year civil war in Sri Lanka, the opportunity for women affected by war and violence to voice their stories was minimal. However, to ensure the holistic nature of historical records, archiving such narratives is essential, and having recognized the need, a few attempts were made to archive women’s war life narratives, among which the digital archive Herstories (2013) by Radhika Hettiarachchi stands out as an impactful archive. In fact, Herstories ‘bears witness to these lost narratives in order to mitigate the dangers of a single, master narrative in post-war Sri Lanka’ (International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, n.d.). The present study aims to examine how different modes of expression of self have been used for capturing the self and identity of women survivors of war in Sri Lanka via their life narratives in Herstories archive. Since life narratives have the potential to make historical records more inclusive by creating space for alternative narratives, it is of interest to examine how the narratives archived in Herstories have enabled women’s self-expression and presenting their self and identity. Being a nation that has been long exposed to ethnicity-based conflicts, Sri Lanka recognises the need to be aware of the lived realities of citizens who experienced war and violence. The analysis shows that the narratives in Herstories project a balanced depiction of women struggling to recover from the ravages of war as well as women whose spirit remains resilient and hopeful. The study also revealed that most women show multifaceted and multiple selves, assumed by the individual to manage and overcome adversities posed by war.

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