Beyond Complicity: Perpetrator Trauma and Implicated Subjects in Ahmed Yerima’s Heart of Stone and Pari

This article examines the representation of perpetrator trauma and implicated subjects in Ahmed Yerima’s Heart of Stone (2013) and Pari (2016). It argues that merely blaming and condemning the perpetrators of Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria can only undermine the possibility of understanding the totality of identities and relationships that perpetuate the conflict and injustice. In contrast to previous studies on both plays which largely focus on the religious identity and the monstrous persona of the perpetrators – Musa and Ibrahim, this article adopts Saira Mohamed’s thesis on perpetrator trauma and Michael Rothberg’s theory of implication to demonstrate that viewing perpetrators as human beings, not just as criminals, brings more understanding of Boko Haram terrorism. Specifically, our study, on the one hand, reveals traumatic memory, paroxysm of anger, feelings of guilt and regret, and reenactment as symptoms of trauma exhibited by Musa and Ibrahim after perpetrating terrorist activities. On the other hand, it identifies implicated subjects (collectively called ‘cultural/societal agents’ in our analysis) who are not perpetrators themselves but are indirectly involved in terrorism in northeastern Nigeria. It is concluded that Heart of Stone and Pari conform to a body of emerging Nigerian plays on terrorism which portray how the complex identities and relationships of perpetrators, victims and implicated subjects enable the conflict while suggesting collective responsibility as potential means of curbing terrorism and effecting justice.