Can the Scarred Speak?

A Study of Acid Violence in Feryal Gauhar’s The Scent of Wet Earth in August (2002)

Abstract

Scars caused by accident or acid attack can negatively affect body image and self-confidence. Scarring is stigmatised in our society because of the premium placed on beauty. This essay on contemporary Pakistani novelist Feryal Ali Gauhar’s The Scent of Wet Earth in August (2002) explores and explicates the social and psychological repercussions of acid violence on the life of a child victim. Through a portrayal of the lived experience of the female protagonist Fatimah, Gauhar problematizes the exclusionary attitude of the mainstream society towards acid survivors. Using textual analysis as a research method, the article exposes and questions the social discourse with respect to the scarred women who are represented as vulnerable, disposable and speechless objects in the public discourse. It, further, explores the challenges, dilemmas and stigmas that mark the life of acid survivors amidst a scenario in which very little legal, financial, educational or moral support is provided by the government or human rights organizations. The novel is analysed in terms of the key discursive

formations that Gauhar contends with: the role of chemical attacks in reinforcing a male-dominated society and the possibility of a literary intervention capable of countering such patriarchal attitudes. Scarcity of available research on the implications of acid violence in literary studies makes this article a significant contribution to the existing scholarship on South Asian fiction. The research hopes to open up an avenue towards a better understanding of the needs and feelings of acid victims in our society.