Bodies of history in Anglophone writing on partition

  • Nadeem ASLAM

Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

Partition archives have grown over the decades to include multiple types of evidentiary material which documents the division of India and its broader human consequences. This material is diverse and varied, covering historical, political and personalised accounts of the event. Partition can no longer be discussed without considering the impact of history and memory on its re presentation. Ramifications of the event still play out today, as many continue to make sense of the unprecedented levels of violence, mass migration and death it caused. This project aims to better understand Partition by examining ways in which creative efforts communicate its experiences. By taking a literary approach, fiction and oral histories are analysed as types of different kinds of ‘ truth texts which employ creative practice to convey ’ about Partition. This research also considers ways in which the politics of memory , history and trauma have shaped representations of the division of India in present times. Literary works and oral history projects on Partition present alternative investigations that work within the remits of what is known about its history to provide creative explorations of experience. By engaging with such explorations, this thesis provides a deeper and more critical engagement with how ‘alternative’ narratives are put to work. Moving beyond Partition as an event of catastrophic proportions, this stud y also discusses the existential crisis and intergenerational effects of Partition to provide a more holistic and nuanced understanding of its legacy.
Date of Award8 Jun 2022
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University Of Strathclyde
SponsorsUniversity of Strathclyde
SupervisorChurnjeet Mahn (Supervisor) & Jim Mills (Supervisor)

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