Exile, Identity, and Political Displacement in the Postcolonial Writings of Rohinton Mistry and Bapsi Sidhwa

Abstract

Exile and identity are the essence of postcolonial discourse in South Asian literature, notably in the writings of Rohinton Mistry and Bapsi Sidhwa, both of whom are affiliated with the historically marginalised Parsi community. The Parsis, who escaped Persia centuries ago to protect their Zoroastrian faith, represent exile not just as a historical event but as an ongoing state of awareness. This study examines the interplay between political displacement and individual and communal identity in the works of Mistry and Sidhwa, contextualising their tales within the socio-political turmoil of postcolonial South Asia. This research analyses Mistry’s A Fine Balance (1995) and Sidhwa’s An American Brat (1993), investigating how the traumas of Partition, the Emergency, and the development of Islamic extremism influence the existential crises of its Parsi characters. Both writers see political unrest as a sign of moral and social deterioration, with women and people from lower castes being the most affected by violence from both ideologies and institutions. Mistry's depiction of caste persecution and political brutality during the Emergency enhances Sidhwa's indictment of military rule and religious conservatism in Pakistan. Utilising Nilufer Bharucha's term of the "Partition Diaspora," the study contends that Parsi literature reflects several diasporas—historical, cultural, and psychological—each reshaping concepts of identity and belonging. Through the prism of political exile, both novels provide a comprehensive critique of postcolonial modernity, portraying exile not just as geographic displacement but as a significant condition of moral dislocation and cultural disintegration.