Navigating Trauma and Displacement: A Comparative Analysis of Exit West (2017) by Mohsin Hamid and The Baghdad Clock (2016) by Shahad Al Rawi

Abstract

This paper examines the thematic and stylistic parallels between Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West and Shahad Al Rawi’s The Baghdad Clock. Both novels engage with the profound impacts of war and forced migration, yet through distinct narrative lenses. Exit West utilizes magical realism, following Saeed and Nadia as they escape their collapsing city through magical doors, to explore the global and psychological dimensions of displacement. The Baghdad Clock, set during the First Gulf War and the subsequent sanctions era in Baghdad, offers an intimate, localized portrait of a young girl’s life, focusing on themes of childhood, memory, and communal resilience. Using an interdisciplinary framework that combines trauma theory, migration studies, and narrative medicine, this study investigates how both novels depict the processing of traumatic experiences. The analysis highlights the innovative combination of these theoretical approaches to reveal the psychological and cultural dimensions of trauma as represented in both a globalized and a specifically Iraqi context.