“From Neighbor to Stranger: Uncertainty and Communal Violence in the Indo-Pakistani Novel”

The aim of this article is to analyze a selection of Indo-Pakistani novels to develop a coherent critique of communal dynamics shaped by the region’s unique socio-historical background. In these works, life in the aftermath of colonial rule is depicted with an eerie sense of existential uncertainty that adversely affects individuals’ ability to negotiate social norms, reinforces inequalities of power and wealth, inflames interethnic tensions, and disrupts traditional notions of belonging, intimacy and security. Through the lens of postcolonial studies and the psychoanalytic insights of its sociological and culturalist offshoots, this study examines each novel as part of a composite mosaic in which various forms of violence, both explicit and implicit, are encoded.