The Shadow King

How does Mengiste use fiction as a mode of historiography? How does this fictional narrative disrupt dominant historical understandings of war, colonialism, and resistance?

This novel includes many acts of violence against women, both in the context of war and in domestic and personal contexts. How does Mengiste use these incidents to explore the overlap between war and misogyny?

How does the relationship between Aster and Hirut change throughout the course of the novel? How do inequalities rooted in class and gender intersect for each character, and how do they overcome these differences?