Volume : 4, Issue : 9, September - 2015

THE SHADOW LINES : A CRITIQUE ON NATIONALISM AND BORDERS

Raeesabegam Usmani

Abstract :

<p>There are many possible readings of The Shadow Lines. One of the ways of reading The Shadow Lines is as a narrative about the Partition of the subcontinent and its aftermath, as it unleashes the enduring inheritance of the partition. The narrative unleashes the mindless mob and the powerful catastrophic vigor as religious fundamentalism. It also questions the geo-political and socio-political Shadow Lines which separates people and nations, whether it has any authenticity by itself or whether it is a meaningless misapprehension. It also seems to question the established narrative of the Indian subcontinent and tries to regain the part of its lost history – a riot in 1964 sunk in muffle. In a way, it is a critique on the burning issues like ‘borders’ and ‘nationalism.</p>