Resilience And Resistance : Cultural Trauma In Nadia Murad’s The Last Girl

Abstract

Nadia Murad is a Yazidi activist and writer who has written extensively about her experiences as a survivor of ISIS captivity and worked to raise awareness about the plight of the Yazidi people. Her book The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State was published in 2017 and became a bestseller. It is very different from the memoirs written by the veterans of the literary world for fame and glory. It is a  heart- breaking memoir of loss, pain, helplessness and perseverance which is capable of instilling hope in the minds of the readers.The work is set in the Iraqi city of Kocho inhabited by Yazidis. It takes the reader  back in time through the life, persecution and survival of Nadia Murad, the author-narrator of the work. It is an autobiographical work co-authored by American writer Jenna Krajeski. She narrates the harrowing story of how her community was deemed evil and outcast, how she was kidnapped by ISIS in 2014, tortured, and sold as sex slave, how her brothers and family were killed, and, finally, how she escaped from the hell she was dragged into. Murad has also written numerous articles and essays on the Yazidi genocide which highlights the ongoing suffering of the Yazidi people and calls for greater international action to address the crisis. The Nobel committee recognised her bravery and work as an activist, particularly in raising awareness of the plight of Yazidi women and girls.