Remembering Partition: Unraveling the Complexities of Collective Memory and National Memory in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice-Candy-Man

Abstract

Partition of Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan, has been a significant event which changed the course of history in twentieth century. The recent scholarship in history, literature and cultural studies has focused on the artistic and testimonial evidence of the lasting suffering partition has engendered in both material terms (murder, rape, dispossession, and displacement) and psychic terms (trauma, nostalgia and the formation or suppression of collective memory). The paper directs its attention to the intricate complexities surrounding the remembrance of the partition of India in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice-Candy-Man. It delves into the memories recounted by various characters who represent diverse religious, ethnic, and social groups affected by the partition. Additionally, the study explores the tensions, conflicts, and divergences that emerge between individual recollections and the prevailing national narrative. Given the crucial role of memory in identity construction, it becomes evident that the characters are entangled in conflicts arising from both collective and national memories. Consequently, the central focus of this paper centres on the conflict between collective and national memories. Furthermore, the research examines the plight of women who become victims not only of the memories perpetuated by the dominant nationalist narrative but also of localized collective memory.
Keywords: partition, national memory, collective memory, identity, complexities.