Trauma Narration in Saadat Hassan Manto’s “Maayi Naanki” in Accordance with Partition-Events of 1947

Abstract

This research investigates the trauma narration in Saadat Hassan Manto’s short story named “Maayi Naanki” and compares it with the real-life events of partition of Indian Subcontinent. Manto’s work has nuanced bitterness in it, which makes it particularly well-suited for narration of events related to the blood curdling Partition. Either it is about culture, society, a specific event or a character or it is about the major events like partition, when he portrays the actual situation, it has bitterness, devastation, craziness, and virulence in it. Female characters in Saadat Hassan Manto’s stories are embodiment of domestic violence and sexual harassment during post-partition times and at the time of partition. During and after the violent Partition, Saadat Hasan Manto portrays female characters, their positions, and their status in the new states of India and Pakistan. This research analyses the protagonist of the short story named “Maayi Naanki” by Saadat Hassan Manto who is Maayi Naanki herself. She migrated from Occupied Kashmir to Pakistan. She went through difficult times but her courage and her attitude towards the partition is one remarkable thing. This research analyses the two phases in the story of pre-Partition happiness and post-Partition trauma with reference to the actual events at the time of partition during the migration from India to Pakistan and vice versa. Manto’s bold description and distinctive raw vocabulary reflects his own experiences of Partition trauma. The aim of this study is to show that trauma narration in Manto’s fiction validates actual witnesses’ accounts of the Partition and is endorsed by them. This validation is significant because it creates a distinctive model of writing that is bitter, bold, and considered worthy of censorship in polite society.