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Representation of Maoist War in Wagle’s Palpasa Cafe
(2024) Pandey , Sangeeta; Anju Gupta
This thesis explores the representation of the Maoist war in Narayan Wagle's
Palpasa Cafe from the perspective of trauma studies. The research studies the process
and the effect of the trauma in different social/cultural groups caused by the Maoist
insurgency and the subsequent death and terror. The research uses the notion of
cultural trauma discussed by Jeffrey C. Alexander. This study points out that the novel
depicts the consequences of the war without trying to dig out the reasons for the
conflict itself. Drishya’s trauma is depicted through several layers of his experiences
and reflections, which bring profound change regarding his survivors’ guilt. The loss
of Palpasa and the constant threat of violence lead to a sense of disillusionment in
Drishya. His trauma is a complex interplay of personal loss, survivor guilt, allied
dreams, and the broader context of political and social turmoil. So, it has
strategically employed resourceful characters as carrier groups to create a discourse
about the victim and the perpetrators, but it fails to present a balanced portrayal of
the armed conflict in Nepal.
Keywords: Insurgency, Trauma, Representation, Maoists, War, Crisis
Between Apathy and Responsibility: Cinematic Representations of UN Peacekeeper’s Moral Dilemma in Hotel Rwanda and No Man's Land
(2025) Gurung, Anand; Dhruba Karki
This dissertation examines the moral dilemma faced by individuals and UN peacekeepers
through an analysis of two films: Hotel Rwanda and No Man’s Land. Although the
institutional failures of the UN--caused by limited mandates, geopolitical interests and
bureaucratic failures--during the Rwandan and Bosnian wars have been widely examined
in scholarly literature, cinematic depiction of individuals caught between institutional
orders and moral convictions in these two conflicts remains relatively under explored. The
analysis is carried out to do just that by using multidisciplinary theoretical lens such as
Darley & Latane’s Bystander Apathy Theory, which helps explain the passivity and
inaction of individuals and institutions (like the UN) in the face of violence. Similarly,
the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Doctrine, a global political commitment adopted by
the United Nations in 2005 to prevent genocide, offers the critical tools for examining the
bureaucratic complicity that gives the impression of apathy and failure in protecting
vulnerable populations. The findings of this research reveal key similarities as well as
differences in how the two films portray UN peacekeepers as both victims of and
complicit in systemic failure and why the much vaunted UN neutrality, when devoid of
moral courage, only contributes to the continuation of atrocity. Ultimately, by analyzing
cinematic portrayals of peacekeepers caught in moral dilemmas, this study highlights the
need for greater accountability and ethical responsibility within global institutions and
calls for a renewed commitment to the humanitarian principle of protecting vulnerable
populations.
Keywords: bystander apathy, genocide, humanitarian interventions, peacekeeping, UN
Renegotiation of Narrative Space in Robyn Davidson’s Tracks and Sara Wheeler’s Terra Incognita: Travels In Antarctica
(2025) Timala, Raj Lakshmi; Anirudra Thapa
This thesis is founded on the premise that the genre of travel writing has
historically been seen as a masculine genre closely bound to the ideals of mobility,
conquest, and exploration that marginalises and excludes women from participation
due to socially imposed expectations of domesticity and immobility. Thus, this
androcentric framing or a genre based on a masculine ideology generates anxiety for
women travel writers, as travel writing produced by women has often been and
continues to be sidelined in travel writing scholarship. Struggling with such anxieties
and insecurities, women travel writers have constantly been on the lookout for
strategies and unique narrative techniques to combat the established societal norms.
This study explores two late twentieth-century women travel writers and their
navigation of genre and gender expectations: Robyn Davidson's Tracks (1980) and
Sara Wheeler's Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica (1996). The study thus argues
that both writers through their travel narrative engage in a renegotiation of narrative
space that exhibits how gendered anxieties complicate the boundaries of the travel
writing genre. Both authors enter territories—the Australian desert and Antarctica—
traditionally constructed as masculine domains of conquest within travel writing.
Drawing on theoretical insights from Mary Gerhart, Jacques Derrida, and Judith
Butler, I analyse how Davidson and Wheeler employ personal narrative, self-
reflexivity, and genre hybridity to establish authority within a tradition emphasising
male-coded values of objectivity and detachment. This thesis thus through Tracks and
Terra Incognita, explores the complexities that female travel writers like Davidson
and Wheeler face, and reveals how their work destabilises the traditional tropes of
exploration and redefines the boundaries of the genre of travel writing.