Trauma and Narrating in Sybil Kathigasu's No Dram of Mercy

Abstract

Malaysian women's autobiographies is now recognized in academia as important documents to foster the reinstating of neglected or forgotten history in the country's past. This article considers the compelling autobiography of Sybil Kathigasu, who supported the guerrillas in their battle against Japanese Occupation of Malaya during the Second World War, and who was herself later apprehended and tortured by the Kempetei. I argue that beneath a veneer of victory over pain, fear and even madness, the text, when subscribed to close reading, reveals that the representation of a triumphant soul actually belies her struggle at an attempt at re-integrate a traumatized self. For me, the act of narrating is itself a safeguard against defeat. By drawing on the insights of trauma scholars, and interweaving them with autobiography theories, I reread No Dram of Mercy as an amazing attempt by a woman at self-healing