Study information

Body, Border, Partition: Understanding Violence in South Asia

Module titleBody, Border, Partition: Understanding Violence in South Asia
Module codeHIH1618
Academic year2023/4
Credits15
Module staff

Dr Kalathmika Natarajan (Convenor)

Duration: Term123
Duration: Weeks

11

Number students taking module (anticipated)

18

Module description

The Partition of colonial India and the violent carving of its borders resulted in at least half a million deaths and remains the largest forced migration in modern history. Utilising a range of sources such as archival documents, cinema, literature, memoirs, photographs, oral histories, maps, and music, this module will examine the histories and legacies of Partition. It seeks to highlight the forgotten voices of the most marginalised communities, placing the intersections of gender, religion, and caste at the forefront of analysis. As one of the most defining and traumatic events of the twentieth century, you will examine how Partition has shaped the modern nation-states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and continues to impact borders, citizenship, and violence in contemporary South Asia.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will enable you to

a)     Understand the structures of colonial rule that ultimately resulted in Partition and the creation of modern South Asia

b)     Utilise a range of primary sources to go beyond ‘top-down’ histories of Partition and instead understand how people experienced violence and displacement.

c)      Examine the gendered nature of violence and address the silences about the experiences of women that long pervaded narratives of Partition.

d)     Trace the long afterlife of Partition, by focusing on contested borders, citizenship, and identities in contemporary South Asia.

e)     Undertake historical research and gain awareness of debates in postcolonial and South Asian history.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 1. Understand and assess the complex histories and legacies of Partition in South Asia
  • 2. Work critically with a range of written and visual sources pertaining to Partition

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 3. Identify the problems of using historical sources, e.g. utility, limitations, etc., and to compare the validity of different types of source.
  • 4. Present historical arguments and respond to questions orally.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 5. Conduct independent study and group work, including the presentation of material for group discussion, developed through the mode of learning.
  • 6. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment.
  • 7. Write to a tight word-limit.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all the following topics:

Divide and Rule: The Road to Partition

Partition as Technique: Understanding the Colonial State

Borders and Bodies: Cartography and Violence

Gendering Partition Violence: ‘Abducted Women’ and the Nation-State

Migrant, Refugee, or Citizen? Identity and Belonging in South Asia

Mourning Partition: Poetry, Literature, and Trauma

Partition on Screen: Cinema, Culture, and Memory

Memory and Postmemory: Remembering Partition

Oral History as Method: Recovering the Silences of Partition

Diaspora, History, and Memory: Digital Archives of Partition

1905-1947-1971: Understanding Connected Partitions

‘Breakfast in Amritsar, Lunch in Lahore’: Reimagining South Asia

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
201300

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching2Workshop
Scheduled Learning and Teaching20Seminars (9 x 2 hour)
Guided Independent Study130Reading and preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Group Presentation (3-4 students)5 minutes per individual student 1-6Oral
Source commentary850 words1-7Oral

Summative assessment (% of credit)

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Source Commentary 133850 words1-3, 5-7Written
Source Commentary 233850 words1-3, 5-7Written
Source Commentary 334850 words1-3, 5-7Written

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Source commentary 1 (850 words)Source commentary 1 (850 words)1-3, 5-7Referral/Deferral period
Source commentary 2 (850 words)Source commentary 2 (850 words)1-3, 5-7Referral/Deferral period
Source commentary 3 (850 words)Source commentary 3 (850 words)1-3, 5-7Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

  • Urvashi Butalia, The Other Side of Silence: Voices From the Partition of India, Durham: Duke University Press, 2000
  • Joya Chatterji, Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932-1947, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
  • Sarah Ansari and William Gould, Boundaries of Belonging - Localities, Citizenship and Rights in India and Pakistan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
  • Ananya Jahanara Kabir, ‘Gender, Memory, Trauma: Women's Novels on the Partition of India.’, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 25, no. 1 (2005): 177-190.
  • Jisha Menon, The Performance of Nationalism: India, Pakistan, and the Memory of Partition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
  • Ritu Menon and Kamla Bhasin. Borders and Boundaries: Women in India's Partition . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998.
  • Haimanti Roy. Partitioned Lives: Migrants, Refugees, Citizens in India and Pakistan, 1947–1965. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
  • Bhaskar Sarkar, Mourning the Nation: Indian Cinema in the Wake of Partition, Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2009
  • Taylor C. Sherman, William Gould, and Sarah Ansari, eds, From Subjects to Citizens: Society and the Everyday State in India and Pakistan, 1947–1970, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar, The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Oral history projects:

Key words search

Violence, Empire, Partition, Borders, Gender, Religion, Migration, Citizenship, Identity, Trauma, South Asia, India, Pakistan.

Credit value15
Module ECTS

7.5

Module pre-requisites

None

Module co-requisites

None

NQF level (module)

4

Available as distance learning?

No

Origin date

10/05/2022

Last revision date

02/05/2023