Trauma and Displacement in Thinner Than Skin by Khan

This article examines the themes of trauma and displacement in Uzma Aslam Khan’s novel Thinner Than Skin, using Cathy Caruth’s trauma theory as a critical lens to explore how emotional and cultural dislocation are represented through silence, fragmentation, and landscape. Set in the conflicted and fragile northern regions of Pakistan, the novel traces the journeys of characters who are physically present yet emotionally unmoored, struggling with fractured identities and unresolved grief. Through a close analysis of Nadir’s diasporic alienation, Farhana’s internalized silence, and the symbolic presence of nature as a witness to suffering, the article argues that Khan reimagines trauma not as an event to be remembered, but as a haunting presence that resists narration. The melting glacier, eroded terrain, and broken relationships reflect the psychological and environmental consequences of disconnection. Silence, both narrative and emotional, emerges as a powerful form of resistance and survival, challenging the conventional notion that healing requires confession or clarity. By blending lyrical storytelling with psychological realism, Khan constructs a narrative where pain is carried in pauses, in photographs, in unspoken histories, and in landscapes that grieve alongside their people. This study positions Thinner Than Skin as a profound exploration of how trauma is lived, not always told, and how displacement leaves behind not only lost places, but lingering silences that echo long after the story ends.