The Mother Wound: Intergenerational Trauma and the Failure of Individualization in Yoshi`s Girl in White Cotton

Abstract

Girl in White Cotton (2019) by Avni Doshi can be read as a psychological and theoretical exploration of intergenerational trauma, maternal subjectivity, and fragmented identity formation. The novel highlights the concept of the “mother wound,” where early emotional experiences between mother and child shape long-term psychological patterns and identity conflicts. Drawing on psychoanalytic and trauma theories, the narrative demonstrates how unresolved maternal trauma is passed across generations through memory, behavior, and emotional responses rather than direct communication. The work reflects the ideas of Sigmund Freud regarding psychoanalysis, the unconscious mind, repression, and repetition compulsion. It also resonates with Donald Winnicott’s theory of the mother-child bond and the influence of parental relationships on self-development. Similarly, Carl Jung’s concepts of individuation and the collective unconscious help explain the characters’ struggle for emotional autonomy and stable identity. The mother-daughter relationship in the novel becomes a complex space of emotional dependence, conflict, and psychological entanglement. Through its fragmented narrative structure, the text mirrors the instability of traumatic memory and emotional disorientation. Furthermore, the novel challenges idealized cultural notions of motherhood by portraying maternal relationships as psychologically complicated rather than purely nurturing. Ultimately, the novel reveals how inherited trauma disrupts identity formation and prevents emotional stability across generations.