Paper :- 202 : Indian English Literature - Post Independence Sem 3

1. MAHARAJAKRISHNKUMARSINHJI BHAVNGARUNIVERSITY
Department of English
MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN : A POST COLONIAL
CRITIQUE
Presented by :
Chandani Pandya
pandyachandani11@gmail.com
Sem :- 3 (Batch -2020-22)
Roll no. – 05
Paper :- 202 : Indian English Literature - Post
Independence

2. “Midnight's
children” was
Salman
Rushdie's
second novel
published in
1981

3. For its unique
matters and
manners this
novel won him
the Booker
prize, 1981.

4. A fantastic movie
directed by Deepa
Mehta was made
on it released in
2012

5.  The novel deals with India's tradition from British
colonialism to independence and the partition of
subcontinent.
 It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and
magical realism.
 Midnight’s children are the children born at the stroke
of the midnight of 15th August 1947 that marked India’s
independence.
 The story is narrated by its chief protagonist, Saleem
Sinai.
INtroduction

6.  methodology
 The conceptual framework of Postcolonial theory is adopted to
critique this novel.
 Content is analyzed to extract Postcolonial elements of…
- Magical realism - Postcolonial Feminism
- Mimicry - Hybridity
- Miscegenation - Postcolonial Feminism

7.  Postcolonial feminism
 Naseem is kept behind “perforated sheet” even when she has to be examined
by a doctor.
 When doctor feels shocked and asks her father about how to examine her
without looking at her. He is told by Naseem’s father Ghani that,
“You Europe-returned chappies forget certain things.
Doctor Shahib, my daughter is a decent girl, it goes
without saying. She does not flunt her body under the
noses of strange men. You will understand that you cannot
be permitted to see her” (Rushdie, 2011)

8.  Midnight’s Children traces the grotesque
destiny of a Muslim Indian family from 1915
to 1977, when Indira Gandhi’s Emergency
rule was about to end in a general election”
(Towers, 1981)
Thank you…

9.  References
Benny, C.P. (n.d.). Magic Realism as a postcolonial
device in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.
Gupta. M. (2009). Salman Rushdie: Are-telling
History Through Fiction. Prestige.
Pryor. M. (n.d.). Study.com.
Rushdie.S. (2011) Midnight’s children. Vintage Books.