“Wall of Force”: Analyzing the Partition of India and Pakistan in Haroun and the Sea of the Stories

Authors

Grace Mowery, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Department/School of the Primary Author

English, Literature, and Modern Languages

Keywords

Postcolonial theory, India and Pakistan partition, Salman Rushdie, censorship

Abstract

Literary scholars have often interpreted Salman Rushdie’s children’s book Haroun and the Sea of Stories as a critique of censorship, but Eva König’s postcolonial analysis provides an alternate interpretation of the book. This essay builds upon König’s work and argues that the book instead critiques the damaged relationship between India and Pakistan following the 1947 partition. König’s inclusion of Edward Said’s views of othering in her analysis strengthens her argument, but she does not account for Rushdie’s context. Contextualizing the book within the history of the partition and accounting for Rushdie’s condemnation of it allows scholars to compare the fictionalized countries of Gup and Chup to India and Pakistan. Rushdie’s critique of othering connects to the hostilities between India and Pakistan as the book argues for reconciliation between divided countries.

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Recommended Citation

Mowery, Grace (2022) "“Wall of Force”: Analyzing the Partition of India and Pakistan in Haroun and the Sea of the Stories," Channels: Where Disciplines Meet: Vol. 7: No. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/channels/vol7/iss1/3