Literary representation of the Greek-Turkish population exchange: Trauma and memory in Louis de Bernières’s novel Birds Without Wings

Abstract

This article analyses Louis de Bernières’s novel Birds Without Wings within the context of the forced Greek-Turkish population exchange mandated by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Through the depiction of a fictional Anatolian town, the novel represents the dissolution of the late Ottoman Empire, the daily practices of co-existence among ethno-religious communities, and the processes of forced displacement triggered by war at a narrative level. This study approaches trauma not as an individual psychological issue, but as a collective and historical rupture caused by forced migration, war, and nation-state formation. Accordingly, it posits that trauma is not merely a memory trapped in the mind, but a transformation of memory transmitted across generations that persists within the cultural fabric. Utilizing trauma studies and collective memory theories, the analysis illuminates the characters' fragmented subjectivity and the literary reflections of historical communal co-existence as a resistance against the rigid identity categories imposed by the nation-state. Produced within the English literary tradition, the narrative raises questions about how a non-witness author represents historical trauma, while also deciphering the relationship between fictional testimonies and collective trauma. By emphasizing the potential dialogue between literature and history, this study positions Birds Without Wings, a rare English-language narrative on the Exchange, as a dynamic site of memory for understanding intergenerational trauma.