THE DYNAMICS OF GENDER & IDEOGRAPHY IN PARTITION NARRATIVES

Abstract

One of the most horrific events of the subcontinent history was the Partition that uprooted, displaced and traumatized millions of people, especially women. This horror, trauma, and displacement has been fictionalized in multiple forms by the literary writers on both sides of the border. This paper focuses upon the way these suferings were and have always been glorified thus silencing the voice of the true victims. The ideographs of honour, heroism and martyrdom became institutionalized in the dominant narratives of Partition and regulated women's experiences. Drawing upon a close reading of selected Partition texts—Bhisham Sahni's Tamas, Shauna Singh Baldwin’s What the Body Remembers, Urvashi Butalia’s The Other Side of Silence and Ritu Menon & Kamla Bhasin's Borders & Boundaries—this paper aims to counter the ‘haloed narratives’, which present women as heroes and cover the underlying realities of fear, vulnerability, and trauma. Women who were portrayed as symbols of sacrifice and honour actually found themselves to be the first victims in a society where patriarchy ruled; limiting their freedom of choice and autonomy. This study is an attempt to critically examine the romantically celebrated narratives related to women's suferings and chalk more inclusive and realistic experiences of women during the Partition.