Forms of Memory: Partition As a Literary Paradigm (Essay‪)‬

This article speculatively proposes a method for comparing works of "partition literature," with reference to narratives of the partitions of India, Palestine, and Ireland. It contends that it is possible to identify distinct genres, plotlines, and esthetic modes within the category of partition literature, specifically the romance, the Bildungsroman, and the fragmented narrative. It argues that each of the genres considered has an inherent propensity towards counterfactualism. These forms contest the current order by evoking a yearning for what might have been, and they seek to make alternatives to partition thinkable once again. **********