What Choice Between Nightmares?: Intersecting Local, Global and Intimate Stories of Pain in Peacebuilding

Abstract

In the chapter “What Choice between Nightmares?” Okot Bitek reflects on her experience of writing stories told by the women traumatized by war in Northern Uganda. While her essay focuses on the same setting and project as the previous chapter, it offers a very different perspective. The traumatic stories troubled Okot Bitek deeply, but she was determined to express the unspeakable. Drawing on the work of American author Toni Morrison, she created her own imaginative story, rooted in the troubling reality. The result is a merging of literary theory and creative practice, which illustrates the power of storytelling to engage with trauma, memory and healing. Bitek also draws upon recent work with Indian women who have been victims of gendered violence and who have a particularly gendered response.