Postcolonial Identity in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children

Abstract

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (1981) stands as a seminal postcolonial text, intricately weaving the personal with the political and offering a profound commentary on identity in post-independence India. Through the life of Saleem Sinai, Rushdie explores the fragmented, hybrid, and performative nature of postcolonial identity in a nation struggling to define itself after the trauma of colonization and the Partition. The novel utilizes magic realism, unreliable narration, and nonlinear storytelling to challenge linear histories and colonial narratives. This paper delves into the portrayal of postcolonial identity in Midnight’s Children, analyzing themes of hybridity, fragmentation, nationhood, and the burdens of history. It also examines how language, memory, and personal trauma shape identity in a postcolonial context. Ultimately, the study affirms Rushdie’s narrative as a powerful critique of both colonial legacies and postcolonial nationalisms, offering a complex, multidimensional view of identity formation in postcolonial India.

Keywords- Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children, postcolonial identity, hybridity, fragmentation, magic realism, nationhood, memory, colonialism, Partition, trauma.