Home and the Homeland: Fragmentation and Loss of Identity in “Alam’s Own House”

Nishtha

Banaras Hindu University.

Abstract

The effects of the Partition can be seen not just in the mass massacres and displacement in huge numbers, but also in the alienation of human beings, which conjures the feeling of homelessness and detachment. Dibyendu Palit’s “Alam’s Own House” functions as a quintessential Partition text, profoundly exploring themes of memory, rootlessness, nostalgia, and identity in the wake of the Partition of Bengal. It highlights the “crisis of home and identity” faced by individuals in cities like Dhaka and Kolkata, which were severely affected by this historical event. Very dissimilar to the violent portrayals of violence, Palit creates a minimalist portrayal of displacement that is affected by the convergence of trauma, memory, and a postcolonial sense of displacement and alienation in the displaced subjects. This paper analyzes Palit’s short story from the lens of Trauma Theory, Memory Studies, and Postcolonial studies to determine the reconciliation of the home (reality) and the homeland (memory).

Keywords: Alienation, Home, Homeland, Reconciliation, Fragmentation.