ABSCISSION OF FAMILIAL BONDING: A MARXIST FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20802530Keywords:
Familial Abscission, Marxist Feminism, Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), Domestic Space, Patriarchy, Emotional Labor, War and Violence, Ideological Control, Female AgencyAbstract
This study examined the phenomenon of familial disintegration in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) through the theoretical lens of familial abscission within a Marxist feminist framework. The conceptualization of the research viewed abscission as a gradual and structured separation of emotion and relationship that was regulated and conditioned by status rather than an abrupt discontinuity. Through qualitative literary analysis and close reading, the paper examined the role of patriarchal subjugation, financial dependence, ideological domination, war, and unpaid housework as the combined effect of these factors led to gradual destruction of family ties. The results indicated that relationships in the family in the novel were systematically undermined by conflicting regimes of oppression that defined the domestic space as a place of power over intimacy. Emotional and physical work done by women was not acknowledged and it brought about psychological fatigue, alienation and emotional detachment. The domestic realm specifically in the home of Rasheed was a microstructure of patriarchal rule of emotional expression where emotion was schooled and related ties were disorganized in an orderly manner. This process was further enhanced by war and socio-political turbulence, which accessed the personal sphere and turned the family space into a space of internal insecurity and fear. Despite these conditions, the study also found that moments of female solidarity and resistance occurred, particularly in the relationship between Mariam and Laila, which reconfigured emotional bonds within oppressive structures. The study concluded that familial abscission operated as both a process of disintegration and transformation, revealing how family systems are gradually reshaped under sustained structural pressures.
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