Vol. 6, Issue 1, Part D (2024)

Easterine Kire, a pioneering literary voice from Nagaland, brings the complex histories of political conflict, cultural marginalization, and personal trauma into sharp focus through her novel Bitter Wormwood (2011). The novel chronicles seventy years of socio-political unrest and personal loss, and constructs a powerful narrative of a common man whose life is fragmented by socio-political violence in Nagaland. The novel serves not just as fiction but as a historical artifact that articulates the inner psychological disruptions and moral dilemmas faced by Naga men within a prolonged culture of militarism and insurgency. This article tries to foreground how trauma, memory, and silence shape the contours of a subaltern masculinity in conflict-ridden Nagaland. Through close textual analysis, the article highlights the complex relationship between masculinity and political trauma, revealing how Kire’s narrative offers an alternative vision of male subjectivity rooted not in dominance, but in empathy, resilience, and quiet resistance.