“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest
This paper explores how Mohammed Hanif’s 2011 novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti challenges the construct of “Pak-ness” (purity), which is at the heart of the idea of Pakistan and Pakistani national identity. I argue that Joseph Bhatti, the father of the eponymous protagonist Alice Bhatti, is an intrica...
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2022-04-01
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/angles/5259 |
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| author | Mushtaq Bilal |
| author_facet | Mushtaq Bilal |
| author_sort | Mushtaq Bilal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper explores how Mohammed Hanif’s 2011 novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti challenges the construct of “Pak-ness” (purity), which is at the heart of the idea of Pakistan and Pakistani national identity. I argue that Joseph Bhatti, the father of the eponymous protagonist Alice Bhatti, is an intricate palimpsest of various historical, political, social, and cultural transformations in India (the Aryan invasion, the inauguration of the Varna system, the Muslim conquests of India, the British colonization of India, and the Partition), but more importantly this character brings to the fore the one constant throughout these monumental transformations – the impurity and Untouchability ascribed to the Chuhra people. In addition, the paper shows how the word “Pakistan” too becomes a palimpsest of various cultural archives, semantic reserves, and political transformations: the word “Pakistan” is acronymized in English, made semantically operative through Persian/Urdu to conflate the Pakistani Muslim identity with the notion of purity, which happens to be of Brahman origin. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-24daad41faae4e278e097acf459cd70b |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2274-2042 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | SAES |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Angles |
| spelling | doaj-art-24daad41faae4e278e097acf459cd70b2025-08-20T01:55:01ZengSAESAngles2274-20422022-04-011410.4000/angles.5259“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a PalimpsestMushtaq BilalThis paper explores how Mohammed Hanif’s 2011 novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti challenges the construct of “Pak-ness” (purity), which is at the heart of the idea of Pakistan and Pakistani national identity. I argue that Joseph Bhatti, the father of the eponymous protagonist Alice Bhatti, is an intricate palimpsest of various historical, political, social, and cultural transformations in India (the Aryan invasion, the inauguration of the Varna system, the Muslim conquests of India, the British colonization of India, and the Partition), but more importantly this character brings to the fore the one constant throughout these monumental transformations – the impurity and Untouchability ascribed to the Chuhra people. In addition, the paper shows how the word “Pakistan” too becomes a palimpsest of various cultural archives, semantic reserves, and political transformations: the word “Pakistan” is acronymized in English, made semantically operative through Persian/Urdu to conflate the Pakistani Muslim identity with the notion of purity, which happens to be of Brahman origin.https://journals.openedition.org/angles/5259literatureIndiaPakistanHanif MohammedUntouchableChuhras |
| spellingShingle | Mushtaq Bilal “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest Angles literature India Pakistan Hanif Mohammed Untouchable Chuhras |
| title | “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_full | “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_fullStr | “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_short | “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest |
| title_sort | yes i am joseph bhatti choohra reading joseph bhatti as a palimpsest |
| topic | literature India Pakistan Hanif Mohammed Untouchable Chuhras |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/angles/5259 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mushtaqbilal yesiamjosephbhattichoohrareadingjosephbhattiasapalimpsest |