TRACING THE NEOCOLONIAL INTERVENTION IN THE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF YOUNG WRITERS FROM THE FORMER COLONIZED REGION: A CASE STUDY ON WORKS OF FATIMA BINTY SULEMAN

Abstract

Despite the absence of direct control by colonial powers, the impacts of British colonialism remain evident in former colonies in various ways. This has led to situations where the inhabitants of former colonies become victims of colonization themselves. Such circumstances facilitate the emergence of neocolonialism, trapping people in colonial mindsets characterized by feelings of superiority and inferiority. This mentality has also been adopted by the younger generations in former colonies. During their formative years, children internalize the perceived superiority of English and Western literary aesthetics, leading them to emulate these styles in their own writings and creative endeavors, even though they have their own literary traditions and languages. Regarding such discussion, one case can be traced through the study of the child writer of Pakistan, Fatima Binty Suleman. Thirteen years old who published four novels and various short stories in 2020. This study is aimed to trace neocolonial interventions among the unconsciousness of children in following Western literary aesthetics in their writing while analyzing the case of Suleman. The study is conducted through a closed textual analysis of her novels within the concept of mimicry given by Homi Bhabha. Bhabha elaborated on how former colonies mimic colonizing powers in different aspects. Analysis reveals that she has written all the novels and short stories in English and adopted the literary aesthetics of the West. The study also discloses that children adopt this attitude in their unconsciousness from the neocolonial exposure they get from their surroundings.