Cultural Hegemony in Soniah Kamal's An Isolated Incident

Abstract

Soniah Kamal's An Isolated Incidentis a story of Kashmiri Muslim family where native culture is hegemonized by Indian and Pakistani culture. Both the countries India and Pakistan claim the land of Kashmir as their own land. However, people like Zari are forced to suffer from the sense of loss and cultural crisis. She wants to live a peaceful life, enjoys her culture, and speaks Kashmiri language but her wish is never fulfilled because of hegemonic policy of India and Pakistan.Economic, politics and war are the way of India and Pakistan regarding to the implementation of cultural hegemony in Kashmir. Kamal presents the hegemonic condition of characters who have lost their cultural norms and values in native land. Zari experiences Indian and Pakistani cultures are dominant in Kashmir and her political infighting. Pakistani hegemony appears by military and religious dominance. Such way they are hegemonized by Indian and Pakistani culture. Through these characters novelist emphasizes the ideas of aristocracy by highlighting the affect of cultural hegemony in Kashmir. India and Pakistan keep on propagating and infuriating to attain their hegemony in Kashmir. And they impose their own ideology in society because domination is often taken out by means of constant. Key Words: Hegemony, Culture, Ideology, Recall, Aristocracy