Stretching the Bounds: Women's Experience of Indenture in Peggy Mohan's Jahajin

Abstract

This article explores the themes of generational trauma and the political act of remembering in Peggy Mohan's novel Jahajin (2007). Jahajin crosses geographic borders, as it explores the migration of Indian women to the Caribbean under indenture, as well as the borders between past and present, as it blends narratives from different generations of women. Mohan uses this blurring of boundaries to critique historical nostalgia, which erases the suffering of oppressed groups and perpetuates cycles of violence. Instead, Mohan advocates building connections across generations to develop a deeper understanding of one's ancestors and break cycles of gendered and racialized repression.