Intersectional Dislocation: A Crenshawian Study of Power, Erasure and Identity Collapse in Zulfiqar Ghose’s The Murder of Aziz Khan
Keywords:
civic erasure, identity fixation, fertility politics, intersectional identities, dislocationAbstract
This study explores intersectional dislocation in Zulfiqar Ghose’s The Murder of Aziz Khan (1967) through Kimberlé Crenshaw’s framework of intersectionality (1989). It examines how overlapping identity signifiers—gender, economy, and rurality—combine with capitalist land acquisition, elite legal maneuvering, and institutional corruption to render Aziz Khan socially and politically invisible. The analysis also reveals intra-household oppression, where fertility functions as social currency, intensifying rivalry and capitalist desire among the Shah brothers. By situating intersectionality within a South Asian postcolonial context, the study extends the framework beyond its feminist origins, offering a new lens for understanding social exclusion across identity markers. It concludes that intersectional dislocation in Ghose’s narrative is not a momentary crisis but a systemic condition, underscoring the urgency for paradigms that confront interlocking systems of domination and reimagine postcolonial justice.
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