The Role of Authority and Subaltern Identity in the Novel Black Bird in a White Cage: Spivak and Guha’s Perspective

Abstract

This study offers an examination of Pakistani English novelist Azhar
Noorani’s novel Black Bird in a White Cage. The concept of subjugation is
predominant in all societies by means of power, oppression, and aggression.
The word ‘power’ is present in one form or another. The core target of the
researchers is to investigate how, amid authority, silence becomes not only
women’s identity but also exposes male members of society as subalterns.
While employing Spivak’s concept of subalterns, it is critically evaluated
that subalterns can speak and know how to raise their voice, but they go
unheard. Additionally, Spivak’s concept of subaltern is further backed up
by Ranajit Guha’s observation on discernment in terms of class and gender.
Following the close reading method, this paper concentrates on the
experiences of Jannat and Dildar and other male and female characters as
subalterns and their experiences, resistance, and consequences