https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.045
Marginal Voices from the Cliff: Youth, Surveillance and Defiance in Sabin Iqbal’s Novel The Cliffhangers
DR. CHINNU CHANDRAN P.
Assistant Professor
PG and Research Department of English
S.N. College, Kollam, Kerala
Abstract: Subaltern as a concept is related to issues of domination and power, democracy and citizenship, resistance and transformation. The term marginalized subaltern refers to groups or individuals who are excluded from the mainstream of society and are positioned as subordinate and voiceless due to the lack of agency. Most of the works of Sabin Iqbal are minority-oriented and portray the consequences of communal politics and the resultant doom of minority identities as the works discuss the dismal situations created by the coalition of politics, religion, communalism and nationalism. Looking beyond the irony of subaltern existential crisis, his stories are marked by the trope of resistance that give rise to subaltern consciousness. The present article is an exploration into power dynamics between classes; the fractured identities of minority people and their acts of defiance to fight against the systemic oppression and social marginalization.
Keywords: Marginalized Subaltern, Subaltern Consciousness, Communal Politics, Existential Crisis, Resistance
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