Beyond the Colonial Veil: Unveiling the Socio-Psychological Impact of Postcolonialism on Youth and Children in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Cracking India

Abstract

This paper employs a postcolonial lens to explore the social and psychological impact of the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, on youth and children’s characters as reflected in Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel Cracking India. Historical and cultural differences, issues of place and displacement, and the myths of identity and authenticity are common features of postcolonial literature in English. Equally, this paper analyzes the postcolonial elements such as identity crises, displacement, othering, cultural and religious differences, and resistance; and its socio-psychological impact on young characters. During the partition, due to abrupt changes in religious and national identities, families were lacerated apart, small children were left orphaned and youth suffered the traumas of torture and bloodshed. The Partition holocaust wrought havoc on all sections of society, and communalism led people to go berserk. This paper focuses on the transformed social and psychological state of young characters. Through a close reading of the text, the socio-psychological impact of postcolonialism on youth and children’s characters is contextually analyzed. For the conceptual framework, the research examines the social and psychological dimensions of postcolonial literary theory in light of the concepts of Homi. K. Bhabha, and other eminent theorists. In the field of social psychology, the study utilizes Erik Erikson's concepts and the parameters developed by Robert T. Carter concerning PTSIM. This paper’s specific focus on the representation of the socio-psychological impact of postcolonialism on young characters and their consequent resistance and reactions will add more to the dynamics of postcolonial literature.