Formation of Identity through the Presentation of Motherhood in Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age

Abstract

Tahmima Anam is the first Bangladeshi novelist in English who draws international attention to the Liberation war of 1971 of Bangladesh through the publication of her first novel A Golden Age in 2007. The Liberation war is replete with the incident of genocide, rape, inhuman torture, abductions etc. The war has instilled a kind of horror into the psyche of Bangladeshi people. During the war the Muslim majority of people of East Pakistan are in an acute identity crisis. Pakistan was formed on the basis of religion Islam. But even religion cannot unite the two wings of Pakistan. Therefore people are in an identity dilemma between religion and nationalism. They are also in a fix as to whom to support- East or West Pakistan. Anam captures this particular complexity in her novel through the protagonist Rehana Haque. In this paper, I will bring forth the complexity of identity formation through the depiction of motherhood of Rehana Haque from feministic standpoint.