Abstract
The 1947 Partition of British India, otherwise simply known as Partition, marked not only the births of India and Pakistan, but also one of modern history’s largest human mass migrations, in which an estimated million died and thousands of women were subjected to horrifying acts of engendered violence. Scholars, such as Menon and Bhasin (1998) as well as Butalia (2000), have conceptualised engendered violence during Partition as a violation of women’s bodies, sexualities and psyches by men in general, manifested in various forms ranging from abduction and rape to honour killing and bodily mutilations. However, this study is limited to examining how honour killing is depicted as a form of such violence in the novel Partitions (2011) by Amit Majmudar. More importantly, it examines how depictions of the honour killing of women during Partition in the selected text can also be read as manifestations of the negative underside of the concept of biopower conceptualised by Foucault, in which mass death and destruction are necessary to ensure the survival of future generations. This study reveals, based on textual evidence surrounding the botched honour killing of the character Simran Kaur, that the honour killing of women during Partition is due to the perception of the time, place and society that women, as well as their sexuality, are symbolic constructions of male honour. This subsequently leads to women being viewed by their own men-folk as threats against the honour of their respective religions and communities in times of communal strife. Keywords: honour killing; 1947 Partition; engendered violence against women; Partition fiction in English; biopower DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2016-2201-17
Highlights
The Partition of British India in August 1947, otherwise known as Partition, marked the independence of India and Pakistan from colonial rule
Only a handful of Partition fiction depicts engendered violence against women in graphic detail, it has been generally credited by such scholars as Bhalla (1999) and Roy (2010) for providing alternative, unconventional and varied perspectives of Partition itself and for highlighting issues overlooked in traditional Partition narratives
This study shall examine depictions of honour killing as a form of engendered violence against women found in a recent work of Partition fiction, namely the novel Partitions (2011)
Summary
The Partition of British India in August 1947, otherwise known as Partition, marked the independence of India and Pakistan from colonial rule. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies – Vol 22(1): 221 – 233 traditional Partition narratives, which Menon and Bhasin (1998) have considered to be overwhelmingly masculine and patriarchal, a view shared by more recent scholars such as Dasgupta and Roy (2013) in their exploration of Partition fiction in Urdu. This study shall examine depictions of honour killing as a form of engendered violence against women found in a recent work of Partition fiction, namely the novel Partitions (2011). Menon and Bhasin have argued that engendered violence against women during Partition is manifested in various forms or methods that are mostly inflicted by men from religious communities in mutual enmity with the victims’, with the sole exception of honour killing. Our justification for choosing Partitions rests heavily on the hypothesis that many key issues have yet to be discovered through an analysis of this novel, especially by examining Majmudar’s portrayal of the character Simran Kaur, survivor of a premeditated honour killing and a victim of engendered violence against women during Partition
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