THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY: A CULTURAL DIFFERENTIALIST CRITIQUE OF PAKISTANI LITERARY DISCOURSE

Abstract

This paper explores the implications of cultural differentialism in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice-Candy Man (1988). It will try to highlight physical, emotional, psychological, and socio-cultural ordeals of major characters: Ayah Shanta, Lenny, Ice-Candy Man, and other minor characters owing to their cultural differences in multicultural India. This study uses interpretative research methodology for the interpretation of data; furthermore, George Ritzer (2011) and Samuel Huntington’s (1993) views of cultural differentialism are employed as a tool for analysis. This paper will identify the repercussions of cultural differences of different cultural communities, Parsees, Hindus and Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians, during the Indian partition. The peaceful coexistence of multicultural India is altered into personal vendetta, communal riots, and arch rivalry between the major cultural entities. This study articulates a new dimension of the text, which probably guides and stimulates researchers to undertake research in economic, sociological, emotional, and psychological facets of the novel. This reading of the novel will unearth the atrocious ramifications of cultural differences in multicultural societies in the globalised world, where cultural tolerance of multicultural entities is indispensable for a peaceful world. Keywords: Cultural differentialism, multicultural societies, multicultural entities, cultural tolerance, Indian partition.