LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 6 June 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Historical Trauma through Literary Perspective Depicted in Chaman Nahal’s Azadi

N. Gunasekaran and V. Peruvalluthi, Ph.D.

Abstract

Chaman Nahal is one of the outstanding novelists of the 1970’s. He wrote eight novels. Azadi is one of the four novels which constitute the Gandhi Quartet (Gandhian Ideology). It is a modern classic which presents a comprehensive vision of life demonstrating the havoc that partition played on the people of the country both at the social and individual levels. It depicts the realistic historical record of the horrible incidents caused by the partition through literary perspective.

It deals with the theme of partition of Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan. As Chaman Nahal himself was a refugee, he writes with remarkable penetration and realism. The novel is historical, political, and above all, a great work of art. It is divided into three parts, ‘Lull’, ‘Storm’ and ‘Aftermath’ which make it clear that the novel is about the silent atmosphere before the announcement of Partition, the horrible incidents caused by the partition and the pitiable conditions of the uprooted refugees after the Partition. The novelist, Nahal has used the seven families of a Muslim-dominated city Sialkot to represent thousands of sufferers like them. Nahal himself was one of those refugees who were compelled to leave Sialkot for India. So, he wrote what he had observed. Almost at the end of the novel this fact had been cleared by him.

The Theme of Partition

Chaman Nahal, one of the outstanding novelists of the seventies (1970's), worked as a professor of English at Delhi University. He wrote eight novels. Azadi (1975) is one of the four novels which constitute the Gandhi Quartet, to which is added the Epilogue (1993) which serves as the Epilogue to the whole Quartet and which won Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977. It deals with the theme of the Partition of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan. As Chaman Nahal himself was a refugee, he writes with remarkable penetration and realism. The novel is historical, political, and above all, a great work of art.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

N. Gunasekaran
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Sri Vidya Mandir Arts and Science College
Uthangarai
Krishnagiri District
Tamilnadu
India
ngsekaran1@gmail.com

V. Peruvalluthi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English
Department of English
Government Arts College
Tiruvannamalai
Tamilnadu
India
valluthi@gmail.com
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