PARTITION NARRATIVES AND THE CREATION OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Upper-Level

On 15 August 1947, the provinces of Punjab and Bengal were divided to form the two nations of India and Pakistan. 12 million people were displaced in divided Punjab alone, and close to 20 million people across the entire subcontinent, making it one of the largest displacements in the 20th century. This class examines themes of law, nationalism, subalternity, religious strife, citizenship, rehabilitation, and gender violence through analyzing Partition documentaries, oral histories, photographs, novels, poems, and films. We explore the division of British India as a site to investigate the end of the Empire, nascent citizenship rights, migration, borders, nationalism, and diasporic embodiments in the 21st century.