“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest
This paper explores how Mohammed Hanif’s 2011 novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti challenges the construct of “Pak-ness” (purity), which is at the heart of the idea of Pakistan and Pakistani national identity. I argue that Joseph Bhatti, the father of the eponymous protagonist Alice Bhatti, is an intrica...
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| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles, |
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| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lenguaje: | Anglais |
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Angles
2022
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| Acceso en línea: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_5259 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_5259 https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.5259 urn:doi:10.4000/angles.5259 en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/5259 2022-05-27T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/9n1v https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Bilal, Mushtaq littérature Inde Pakistan Hanif Mohammed intouchable Chuhras fiction pakistanaise palimpseste caste farsi ourdou literature India Pakistan Hanif Mohammed Untouchable Chuhras Pakistani fiction palimpsest caste Farsi Urdu This paper explores how Mohammed Hanif’s 2011 novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti challenges the construct of “Pak-ness” (purity), which is at the heart of the idea of Pakistan and Pakistani national identity. I argue that Joseph Bhatti, the father of the eponymous protagonist Alice Bhatti, is an intricate palimpsest of various historical, political, social, and cultural transformations in India (the Aryan invasion, the inauguration of the Varna system, the Muslim conquests of India, the British colonization of India, and the Partition), but more importantly this character brings to the fore the one constant throughout these monumental transformations – the impurity and Untouchability ascribed to the Chuhra people. In addition, the paper shows how the word “Pakistan” too becomes a palimpsest of various cultural archives, semantic reserves, and political transformations: the word “Pakistan” is acronymized in English, made semantically operative through Persian/Urdu to conflate the Pakistani Muslim identity with the notion of purity, which happens to be of Brahman origin. Cet article s’intéresse à Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2011) de Mohammed Hanif et à la façon dont le roman remet en question la construction de la « Pak-ness » (pureté), notion au cœur projet politique pakistanais et de son identité nationale. Je soutiens que Joseph Bhatti, le père de la protagoniste éponyme Alice Bhatti, est un palimpseste de différentes transformations historiques, politiques, sociales et culturelles indiennes (invasion aryenne, système des Varnas, invasion musulmane de l’Inde, colonisation britannique du sous-continent, puis Partition de 1947). Avant tout ce personnage met en avant une unique constante : l’impureté et l’intouchabilité attribuées au peuple Chuhra. En outre, l’article démontre comment le mot « Pakistan » est également un palimpseste de diverses archives culturelles, de réserves sémantiques et de transformations politiques : le mot « Pakistan » est acronymisé en anglais, rendu sémantiquement opérant par le biais du persan/ourdou afin de mêler l'identité musulmane pakistanaise avec la notion de pureté, qui est, en fait, une notion brahmanique. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
littérature Inde Pakistan Hanif Mohammed intouchable Chuhras fiction pakistanaise palimpseste caste farsi ourdou literature India Pakistan Hanif Mohammed Untouchable Chuhras Pakistani fiction palimpsest caste Farsi Urdu |
| spellingShingle |
littérature Inde Pakistan Hanif Mohammed intouchable Chuhras fiction pakistanaise palimpseste caste farsi ourdou literature India Pakistan Hanif Mohammed Untouchable Chuhras Pakistani fiction palimpsest caste Farsi Urdu Bilal, Mushtaq “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| description |
This paper explores how Mohammed Hanif’s 2011 novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti challenges the construct of “Pak-ness” (purity), which is at the heart of the idea of Pakistan and Pakistani national identity. I argue that Joseph Bhatti, the father of the eponymous protagonist Alice Bhatti, is an intricate palimpsest of various historical, political, social, and cultural transformations in India (the Aryan invasion, the inauguration of the Varna system, the Muslim conquests of India, the British colonization of India, and the Partition), but more importantly this character brings to the fore the one constant throughout these monumental transformations – the impurity and Untouchability ascribed to the Chuhra people. In addition, the paper shows how the word “Pakistan” too becomes a palimpsest of various cultural archives, semantic reserves, and political transformations: the word “Pakistan” is acronymized in English, made semantically operative through Persian/Urdu to conflate the Pakistani Muslim identity with the notion of purity, which happens to be of Brahman origin. |
| author |
Bilal, Mushtaq |
| author_facet |
Bilal, Mushtaq |
| author_sort |
Bilal, Mushtaq |
| title |
“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_short |
“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_full |
“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_fullStr |
“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_full_unstemmed |
“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_sort |
“yes, i am joseph bhatti choohra:” reading joseph bhatti as a palimpsest |
| publisher |
Angles |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.5259 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/5259 |
| _version_ |
1877293175637278720 |