https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i2.042
State Violence: Turbulent Past in Human Acts and Rich Like Us
PRAVEENA A M P
Research Scholar and Assistant Professor
Department of English
Government First Grade College Moka, 583117
Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari
DR SHANTHA NAIK N
Professor
Department of English
Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari
Abstract: This paper studies how state violence is powerfully shown in Human Acts (2016) and Rich Like Us (1985). It places both novels within their real historical settings — the Gwangju Uprising in South Korea (1980) and the Indian Emergency (1975–77) respectively. The study shows how both writers use fragmented storytelling, physical and emotional trauma, and collective memory to criticize the cruel and inhuman actions of the state, which treats its people as worthless. In Human Acts, Han Kang gives voice to the dead through multiple narrators, showing how military dictatorship destroys personal freedom and individuality. In Rich Like Us, Sahgal explores how personal greed and political corruption during the Emergency led to the loss of democratic values and human dignity.
The paper looks at how both authors respond to authoritarian cruelty, dehumanization, and the lasting effects of national trauma. The “turbulent past” in each novel not only reveals the violence of the state but also challenges readers to face forgotten histories and their own moral responsibility. Both novels use literature not as a way to heal but as a way to bear witness and resist oppression, creating a powerful record of truth against official silence.
Keywords: State violence, Gwangju Uprising, Indian Emergency, Authoritarianism, Collective trauma, Counter resistance.
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