Exploring Power Relations in Bapsi Sidhwa’s The Pakistani Bride: An Analytical Study

Abstract

Bapsi Sidhwa’s ‘The Pakistani Bride’ constructs social norms and cultural practices within Pakistani society. The novel represents complex and subtle power dynamics that demonstrate the urgent need for change in the challenges people, especially women, experience in gaining independence and rights in a constantly changing society. Despite deeply rooted patriarchal bonds, Sidhwa's critique of gender inequity is a call to action. Exploring issues of gender, class and ethnicity, the novel constructs a diverse range of viewpoints on power relations and their effects on individuals and society. The study focuses on women’s discrimination in a patriarchal society where women face various types of discrimination and oppression. Fairclough’s (2013) dialectical approach to Critical Discourse Analysis is used to analyse the selected passages from the novel under study. The focus of the study is to critically examine gender inequality in the novel The Pakistani Bride