Fractured Selves and Partitioned Identities: A Postcolonial Reading of Saadat Hasan Manto’s Raam Khilawan

Abstract

The partition created a number of problems, such as disruption of identity, loss of liminality, and forced identities. The problems related to partitions can be found in literature that was written during the partition time as well as post-partition periods. The story written by Saadat Hassan Manto, named “Raam Khilawan (2016) ,” has also touched upon the themes of disruption of identities, loss of liminality, and forced identities but has not yet been explored through this perspective under the broader umbrella of postcolonial theory. The current paper aims to analyze the partitioned identities and fractured selves in the short story Raam Khilawan (2016) using Alan McKee’s (2003) model of textual analysis under the broader umbrella of postcolonial theory. The findings of the study revealed how the story portrays the themes of othering, loss of liminal space, and the voices of the lower class, which were kept silent/subaltern voices. The findings of the study suggested that Manto was criticizing not only the brutal situation of the partition time but also the ideological and political tensions of the partition discourse, which caused such issues. The issues during the partition were the inheritance of colonial discourse, which worked under the othering/binary opposition to make space between the indigenous people.