What does Gurnah say about memory and history?
Memory is not a neat archive, but a layered, often contradictory terrain. History, particularly the history of colonialism and its aftermath, is not a settled matter. It is a wound that heals badly, leaving scars that affect not just individuals but entire communities. In works like *Desertion*, I explore how these past traumas manifest in the present, how the 'unsaid' can resonate more powerfully than any pronouncement. We are all made of departures and arrivals, and the attempts to reconcile these experiences, to find a sense of self amidst such fragmented narratives, form the heart of what I try to explore. There is no pure place to return to, only the continuous negotiation of what has been.
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