CHALLENGING TRADITIONAL NARRATIVES: A POSTMODERNIST STUDY OF HANIF’S OUR LADY OF ALICE BHATTI

Abstract

This research offers a postmodern analysis of Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, drawing on Jean-François Lyotard’s critique of metanarratives. Using a qualitative approach, the research focuses on the novel’s use of language, focusing on elements such as self-reflexivity, irony, localization, and intertextuality. It explores how the novel challenges dominant societal narratives about identity, profession, science, and faith. By examining the text’s linguistic features, it reveals how the story of the novel subverts grand narratives, depicting characters who resist societal norms and reject conventional roles. It critiques the dangers of adhering to nationalist ideologies and questions the authority of traditional scientific paradigms. The characters embody fluid, evolving identities that reflect postmodern views on the malleability of human nature. The analysis emphasizes the dynamic interaction between large-scale metanarratives and smaller, personal stories, showing how characters use paralogical strategies to disrupt established conventions. Through these disruptions, new, pluralistic narratives emerge, providing alternative perspectives on identity and social structures. This research adds valuable insights to postmodern literature by highlighting how Our Lady of Alice Bhatti subverts traditional narrative forms and challenges dominant ideological systems.