Living in the Third Space: A Postcolonial Study of Aslam’s Maps for Lost Lovers

Abstract

The Postcoloniality of Pakistani Literature in English is manifest in all the works produced both by the local and the diasporic writers representing the nation. Multifarious postcolonial dimensions of these literary yields, ranging from the personal exilic agonies to the collective traumas triggered by displacement, have been explored. Among these sociocultural dimensions represented in the creative works and theorized in the critical works, the notions of the Third Space and exilic consciousness remain the central ones. Invoking Homi Bhabha’s theoretical articulations on the issue, the researchers engage with Nadeem Aslam’s Maps for Lost Lovers for an understanding of the condition of the characters oscillating between the native and adopted cultures. This is a qualitative study and the method of textual analysis has been used. Through a thorough analysis of the text of the novel, the perplexing positionality of the characters living in the third space, as represented by Aslam, has been exposed and critiqued. To contribute to the understanding of the Pakistani diasporic community’s problem, the findings have been located in the broader cultural context.