NAVIGATING SUBALTERN IDENTITY AND RESISTING MARGINALIZATION: A POSTCOLONIAL PERSPECTIVE OF MUHAMMAD HANIF’S OUR LADY OF ALICE BHATTI (2011)

Abstract

This paper takes into consideration Muhammad Hanif’s Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, a postcolonial Pakistani novel, that grapples with the intricate dynamics of subaltern identity and the multifaceted marginalization of the protagonist, Alice Bhatti. Anchored in the critical concepts of postcolonialism, this search discovers how Alice is marginalized based on her gender, religion, caste, class, and profession. Gayatri Spivak's (2003) concepts of 'subaltern' and 'marginalization' have been used as a theoretical framework. By utilizing a qualitative approach such as textual analysis of the primary text, this study has deployed postcolonial concepts to highlight how the male section of the Karachi society tries to objectify and exploit Alice. The current research also studies the strategies adopted by Alice to counter marginalization and the lusty attempts made by both patient and doctor to subdue her. This investigation aims to develop a deeper understanding of how Alice suffers from multifold marginalization in a patriarchal society that always tends to push her to be a subaltern. Alice develops herself into a capable person who somehow fights against the patriarchy of society with the same magnitude in the opposite direction. In addition, this study will attempt to reimagine our assumptions of what it means to be a subaltern and marginalized in the 21^st   century.